Volume 25, Number 15 · October 12, 1978
Digging Out Doug
By John K. Fairbank
American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964
by William Manchester
Little, Brown, 709 pp., $15.00
Dugout Doug, as some GIs called him, was actually brave beyond belief, courting death hundreds of times to set his troops an example. He was in fact our greatest soldier, a field general in three wars over a third of a century (1918-1951) who commanded more troops in battle with fewer casualties than any other American. He also got into more public controversy. His vanity constantly showed through, and when it came to politics people sensed that he had no social or economic program to substitute for victory. His performance in war and as a latter-day Shogun in Japan made history, but that is essentially what they were—performances.
Review, 3101 words
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