JWE -> RE: General Douglas MacArthur (10/22/2008 8:55:39 PM)
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ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk Which still makes him better than Eisenhower, Bradley, Gerow, Clark, Patch, Hodges, Devers and most every other US army commander. [:D] Well, it’s not quite fair to compare apples and oranges. A Supreme Commander has way different imperatives than a Division, Corps or Army Commander. I note that nobody mentioned the best US combat commander in several decades (imho), Joe Collins. Job of a Supreme Commander is different from even an Army Commander. They have to take a very, very long view, and put operations into a context. So you can’t judge them on the basis of combat commander performance. I am not a MacArthur fan. I believe his military performance was generally sub par. However, I must admit that certain of his operations (Inchon, for example) are still gamed and still viewed as examples of breathtaking, marginally acceptable, risk. He was not a nice man; he was a cold, arrogant, self-important piece of work. He let his troops bleed for his glory, lied about his casualties, ignored the sacrifices of our Allies, and promoted himself to the exclusion of all others. But … He could, and did, make the big call. I must give him that.
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