The Riddle of MacArthur: Japan, Korea, and the Far East

by John Gunther

Book by Gunther, John

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

John Gunther was one of the best known and most admired journalists of his day, and his series of "Inside" books, starting with Inside Europe in 1936, were immensely popular profiles of the major world powers. One critic noted that it was Gunther's special gift to "unite the best qualities of the newspaperman and the historian." It was a gift that readers responded to enthusiastically. The "Inside" books sold 3,500,000 copies over a period of thirty years.

While publicly a bon vivant and modest celebrity, Gunther in his private life suffered disappointment and tragedy. He and Frances Fineman, whom he married in 1927, had a daughter who died four months after her birth in 1929. The Gunthers divorced in 1944. In 1947, their beloved son Johnny died after a long, heartbreaking fight with brain cancer. Gunther wrote his classic memoir Death Be Not Proud, published in 1949, to commemorate the courage and spirit of this extraordinary boy. Gunther remarried in 1948, and he and his second wife, Jane Perry Vandercook, adopted a son.

Reviews

[Numidica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very lucid obsevation of MacArthur, Japan, Korea, and the wider strategic situation in Japan as of about Spring 1951, published just prior to the relief of MacArthur by Truman. It was particularly interesting to me, because both my parents worked in the Dai Ichi building in Japan in 1950-53, and Gunther describes the living conditions of Americans in Japan in some detail. His observations align with what my mother and father told me (my mother was a civil service employee, and my father was a Colonel on MacArthur's staff). Although he does not point fingers, Gunther makes clear the enormity of the intelligence failure that allowed the US/UN forces to be effectively ambushed by the Chinese armies that entered the war in late 1950. As for MacArthur's role as military governor of Japan, Gunther judges him a great success in that massive undertaking, as did my father. Gunther, in early 1951, was unsure that the democratic system imposed on Japan would "stick", and that it did is probably largely attributable to the massive spending of the US on the Korean War, much of which flowed through the Japanese economy and jumpstarted it. Since almost every history of this era was written after the downfall of MacArthur, it is interesting to hear Gunther's view of the situation prior to the ultimate denouement.

[Douglas Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my education on the Korean War, I had an interest in this book since it was hard to find. Many books about the Korean War seem to be of that nature, especially those written while the war was ongoing, in order to obfuscate the truth from the American public. For example, the book I ordered from Amazon came from a college library, there were no new editions of this book in print. This seems odd, considering that Gunther is a widely published author for his other works, and MacArthur to most is considered a war hero to America.

The book itself is a quick read and well written, though of course extremely pro-American. I read it to give myself a better understanding of MacArthur from an American point of view, as Gunther interviews MacArthur and spends time in Tokyo with him as well as interviewing many Japanese people about what they think of him. As someone who was named after MacArthur, I found some tidbits to be fascinating, someone that I always wanted to learn about at some point for that reason, but under different auspices, as I am now a staunch Marxist Leninist.

What's interesting also is the American mentality as the Cold War was starting to take shape, before Macarthyism was in full swing. While the book is anti-communist for sure, it was more trying to take a rational approach to the more rabid anti-communist rage as the Korean War dragged on in the United States and Red Scare started to be amplified from the American propaganda machine. It's a good honest look at how America saw itself, the victors and the heroes and liberators of Asia, rather than its new oppressors. It's clear that the CIA was still in its infancy during this time, and didn't have the power that it now has to get everyone on code in their messaging, and so there are interesting facts here and there that slipped through the cracks.

For anyone who wants to broaden their understanding of the Korean War and the beginnings of the Cold War, this is a must read.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Gunther interviewed and profiled General Douglas MacArthur in Japan at the height of his power and just before the fall, when the Korean War made him a national hero once again and later him brought him to disaster. MacArthur's military genius was surpassed only by his vast, inhuman ego, and he tolerated only "yes men" on his staff. His enormous self-confidence was brittle. He hated the New Deal and gave Japan progressive labor and land reform legislation. Mac seriously regarded himself as a champion of Christianity equal only to the Pope, who sent him birthday greetings in 1950. He despised Roosevelt politically and owed his job and Medal of Honor to him. Gunther guessed that "pride, hubris" which had brought him thus far in his career would proved MacArthur's Achilles Heel. This slim volume offers no answers but plenty of clues to the eternal riddle of Douglas MacArthur.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read it for a research paper...