A couple points here we should remember before Truman relieved MacArthur.

That speech lasted for about a 20 minutes. Is there a full version of it?

Amen. Greatest lesson of democracy. The military must always be answerable to the elected government. History has proven Mac right. We should have put the communists in their place whilst we had the balance of power in our favour, however, Truman was correct in reliving him of command. Our enemies and friends must have a clear knowledge of our national policy and who directs it.

While MacArthur might have been a solid leader Truman was right about relieving him because maintaining stability and peace is a more important issue because his plan for escalating the war with China would've costed lives and money possibly provoking World War 3 with the Soviet Union, This is still a problem we face now as Trump is putting us at risk with other countries such as Iran for another potential conflict that would be unnecessary and to come at a price.

Truman was right. All out war would not have been prudent. The Soviet Union and communism fell because of containment policy. He saved millions of lives.

If MacArthur was so great why was Nimitz put in charge of the Pacific theater during ww2? The people in charge knew he was a stuffed shirt.

Truman did not directly sack MacArthur, but he did relieve him of his command during the Korean War. In April 1951, MacArthur publicly criticized Truman's handling of the war and advocated for a more aggressive approach, including potential military action against China. This went against Truman's policy of limited war and his desire to avoid a larger conflict. As a result, Truman made the decision to remove MacArthur from his command. MacArthur was replaced by General Matthew Ridgway.

Truman was right to fire MacArthur. His insubordination and attempts to divide the government were horrific.

Other than Ford pardoning Nixon, I can't think of an presidential act that might has well have been signing away the presidency. It is shocking that this act dropped Truman's approval rating to the lowest percentage ever recorded. At 22%, Truman left office with an approval rating lower than....

I only fear two men, Huey P.Long snd Douglas MacArthur.......Truman

It was finally revealed in 2024.

Wew

MacArthur for all his military victories and achievements had the 1 flaw in many Generals - They want to keep on winning but don't realise it was time to let someone else take over. They believe their military acumen should override a civilian chief without that acumen. That would be a slippery slope to dictatorship. Civilian control of the military is fundamental for democracy, if not as Ike would later say, the rise of the Military Industrial Complex. This decision was among the factors that cause Truman not to seek a 2nd term , but it was despite being panned then, as was the case with Ford pardoning Nixon, the correct decision. MacArthur for his ego and ambition, should have done what Ike did, seek the Presidency rather than continuing as a Commanding general.

General McCarthy was forced to resigned b/c of those stupid uS presidents :( They are so evil 👿

Dwight Eisenhower worked directly for Douglas MacArthur in the 1930s and he didn't really let on whether or not he agreed with Harry Truman's decision to fire MacArthur though I bet in private he did.

Now in America, Trump:" You are fired!"

Why didn’t you know before hand? You are allied to red China :( FDR was evil 🦹‍♀️

Truman, you, and your advisors, were wrong. Should have taken out the Reds then - too late now.

Fired for being too based

Truman was wrong and history proved it. The weakness of a "pol;ice action" (which is unconstitutional) only led to the further waste of American and Allied lives in Vietnam. Mao could have been stopped dead in his tracks in Korea and should have been. Mao had made the mistake of already committing the majority of his best troops and equipment across the Yalu bridges into Korea. Mac would have cut them off and captured all of them. He had the means and forces to do so. the White House and Joint Chiefs orders were undoubtedly leaked by the British spy to the Russians, who gave it to Mao. Mao thus had assurance that his army would not be cut off from its supplies and that his MIGs could raid without being followed back to their airfields. THAT is "no way to run a war" and Mac knew it, from long experience. Truman and Gen. Ridgeway got tens of thousands of American and Korean men killed and maimed for nothing. Mac would have made one of our all-time greatest presidents, too. The country lost, by not electing him.