ABSTRACT
The relief of General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur by President Harry S. Truman in April 1951 ranks as one of the most—if not the most—dramatic episode in civil-military relations in American history. This examination argues that the real countdown to MacArthur's relief begins at least in 1941—and not with Truman as a principal. But it had an ominous foreshadowing in 1932 when Macarthur first demonstrated a proclivity to act contrary to his instructions from civilian authorities when he used military force to crush the Bonus Marchers. Moreover, narratives of American history typically exhibit Truman's dismissal of MacArthur as the defining episode of their relationship. Frank, however, casts a light over perhaps what should be recognized as at least as defining an episode in their relationship when they worked in cooperation to achieve one the most noble actions to grace this nation's history—saving millions of Japanese lives in the aftermath of the Second World War.
