PART V: PRESIDENT
CHAPTER 33
January 20, 1953
President-elect Douglas MacArthur could think of no greater honour. Here he stood, on the East Portico of the Capitol, Jean holding a Bible by his side. Out in the distance, untold thousands of people had come to witness this historic event, and many more would see it on television or hear it on the radio. Chief Justice Vinson asked if he was ready, and when he responded affirmatively, he said “raise your right hand” and began to administer the hallowed oath:
“I, Douglas MacArthur, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.”
“Congratulations, Mr President.” Vinson said. And with that, it was official. The crowd roared in approval.
***
Once inaugurated, the new President moved quickly to assert his authority. The first order of business was to put his cabinet nominations approved by the Senate. MacArthur had decided on all of the men he wanted in the top positions months ago, and with the exception of a couple of rearrangements the list had been final by Election Day. The Senate, split straight down the middle after the recent elections, was expected to confirm all of them without issue. Majority Leader Knowland was an ardent MacArthur supporter, and it was rare for presidential appointments to be challenged besides. Knowland had been given an envelope the day before the inauguration. It contained a single sheet from the legal pad, signed by MacArthur and listing who would go where.
State - Henry Luce
Treasury - Phil LaFollette
Defence - Bill Allen
Attorney Gen - Dick Nixon
Commerce - Robert E Wood
Labour - Courtney Whitney
FSA Administrator - Frederick Ayer
Budget Director - Joseph Dodge
CIA - Charles Willoughby
UN Ambassador - Ike
MacArthur’s critics had been using the image of him ruling the United States as a military governor, or worse a dictator, ever since he announced he would seek the Presidency. His commitment to serving the Constitution had never wavered, and he had no intention of doing as they claimed, but the image remained dangerous nonetheless.
Thus, he had decided long ago that the four top cabinet spots would all go to civilians. Luce and LaFollette had both been vital parts of his campaign, and it was natural that they would be rewarded with two of the top jobs. Luce had been floated as an option for State when Willkie had run in 1940, and MacArthur had no intention of giving the job to the otherwise obvious candidate John Foster Dulles, so the decision was easily made. Richard Nixon was someone that MacArthur had only recently met, but he looked to be a rising star in the party and MacArthur could see no immediate reason to object to the party suggestion. The Senate raised questions over a potential conflict of interest considering Allen’s recent time at Boeing, but the former CEO had already sold his share of the company and his good character convinced the Senate to approve him with a strong majority.
Five men from the Army would get important roles in the incoming administration. MacArthur trusted them wholeheartedly, and believed they would be best placed in jobs similar to those they held in Tokyo. Whitney had managed civil affairs, and as MacArthur was hoping to achieve labour reform he believed that to be the most suitable portfolio. Willoughby had already taken a job with the CIA and had been MacArthur’s source of intelligence information since 1939, while Dodge had been his financial advisor for the last four years. Eisenhower hadn’t been part of the MacArthur headquarters for over a decade, but MacArthur felt that as Eisenhower had almost single-handedly put him in the White House, it was only fair that Ike get any job he desired in the new administration. Ike thought his skills would be best used in the United Nations, and the Senate agreed.
The fifth Army man was someone the Senate had no say over: Ned Almond, who MacArthur appointed as his Chief of Staff. Truman had called John Steelman his Assistant to the President, but MacArthur was quick to replace it with the title he had used in Japan. Almond was no mere assistant. Taking orders only from MacArthur himself, Almond reprised his role as the unofficial second in command.
Just as he had in Tokyo, Almond would control access to MacArthur. No-one but Charles Willoughby saw the President without Almond’s approval, an approval that would largely depend on the person having a sufficiently high opinion of one Douglas MacArthur. No criticism of the President was to ever reach his ears. Almond’s fearsome, uncompromising presence in the office that had once been used by Truman’s secretaries, would make sure of that. In Washington, as in Tokyo, Almond was the gatekeeper.
The Oval Office, too, would be run by the rules used in Tokyo. Cabinet meetings would be rare occasions: when MacArthur sought information, typed or written memoranda were what would reach his desk. An invitation to MacArthur’s office was an invitation to one of his performances: he talked and you listened. His decision, once made, was final. Being president meant being in charge, and MacArthur had being in charge down to a fine art.
All of this, unsurprisingly, created an atmosphere of sycophancy. MacArthur was not interested in being surrounded with advisors who offered different opinions. He had chosen loyalists who agreed with his own views. No-one had lasted long in the Dai Ichi without a minimum level of admiration for MacArthur, and he had picked his followers carefully. This time would be no different. Henry Luce had been a believer in the MacArthur cause for at least a decade, and the rest of the cabinet was quickly discovering the procedure, with some even going so far as to address MacArthur not as “Mr President”, but as “sir”.
One prominent member of the administration who had no interest in falling into line was longtime boss of the FBI, J Edgar Hoover. Hoover had run the FBI like his own private empire since he founded it nearly three decades earlier. Having accumulated the secrets of every important figure in Washington and a good many outside as well, Hoover had bullied and intimidated his way into power, power that he held by promising every new administration that he would ruin them if they challenged him. FDR and Truman had not dared challenge his fierce independence, and Hoover was sure he could browbeat MacArthur the same way.
Waiting for Almond to retire for the night, Hoover invited himself into the Oval Office. MacArthur, who was reviewing the federal budget at the time, simply stated “You do not have an appointment.” An appointment that Almond had orders not to give.
Undeterred, Hoover explained “how matters were handled” by the previous administrations, and his desire to have them continue, along with the threats of what would happen if they did not. “I’m sure you wouldn’t like that to happen, would you, Mr President, would you?” he finished.
MacArthur was no stranger to threats. He had faced down the entire nation of Japan when he arrived there - unescorted - in September 1945, faced them down and come out on top. He already knew of Hoover’s power, ironically enough it had been Herbert Hoover who had first brought the matter to his attention about a month ago. He had already decided that he would tolerate the FBI boss, for now at least. The last thing the new administration needed in its earliest days was a scandal. So he said flatly, “Mr Hoover, in this administration there are procedures. You are subordinate to my attorney general, Mr Nixon, and you are to raise any Bureau concerns with him. If you require my time, speak with Ned, and he can arrange an appointment for a suitable time.” Now get out wasn’t spoken, but it did not need to be. The president’s tone said it all. MacArthur was furious. Hoover had better watch himself, and play by the new rules, or the former general would get rid of him, threats or not.
If Hoover needed any further warning, he needed only look at what had already happened to one prominent official who had made himself an opponent of MacArthur. That opponent’s name was John Foster Dulles, and he was widely considered to be one of the top foreign policy experts in the country. A committed Republican, he had been the heir apparent for the position of Secretary of State should the GOP win in 1952, and he had many influential supporters backing him.
What he did not have was a suitably high opinion of President MacArthur. Throughout the Korean War, State had constantly imposed restrictions on his authority, making the war more difficult to fight than it had needed to be. Dulles, on Truman’s orders, had then been sent to negotiate with the Red Chinese when the war wound down, cutting the victorious general out of any part of the peace negotiations. It was a slight that had never, and would never, be forgotten.
MacArthur had quickly realised that he had to tread carefully with John Foster Dulles. The 83rd Congress was split even in the Senate, and offered only a razor-thin Republican advantage in the House of Representatives, so he could not afford to lose votes early on. The Party would understand him not appointing Dulles to the State role, Luce had been one of his most important allies during the campaign, but if he unceremoniously sacked Dulles, there would doubtless be trouble. The solution he came up with would be to send Dulles to Canberra, where he could serve as the Ambassador to Australia. The Australians had played a vital role in MacArthur’s campaign across the Pacific, and remained a steadfast ally of the United States. The position had prestige, but nothing more. If there was an urgent diplomatic matter to attend to, MacArthur would attend to it himself, and any crisis wasn’t terribly likely to come from Canberra anyway. As far as the President was concerned, Dulles would be gone for good.
MacArthur would also be quick to impose himself on the White House itself. The building had undergone a major renovation during Truman’s first term, with work being finished only weeks before the Korean War broke out. Truman had decorated it as he saw fit once he moved back in, and if there was one person MacArthur did not wish to be associated with, it was Harry Truman.
First to go was the ‘The Buck Stops Here’ nameplate. The buck did not stop at the Resolute Desk, and the man behind it, during the MacArthur administration. Credit for victory presented itself solely to MacArthur, blame for defeat was a problem for someone, anyone, else. Truman had left it behind as a parting gift for his successor: MacArthur had it shipped back off to Missouri. In its place, the Resolute Desk would be home to three ashtrays, ‘In’ and ‘Out’ boxes that would rarely hold papers, a legal pad, and a picture of MacArthur’s father. The legal pad was brand new, everything else had come with him from Tokyo.
Paintings, too, would be replaced. Truman had given Franklin Roosevelt’s portrait pride of place, MacArthur had it swapped out for Theodore. Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington would also receive prominent places. Herbert Hoover would have taken Washington’s spot, but the Special Advisor believed it would be inappropriate to display the picture of a current administration official. When it came to MacArthur’s attention that Patton had hung a portrait of himself in several Eighth Army headquarters, he tasked Frederick Ayer Jr with finding the painting. The late general had played no small part in getting him into office, and his contribution would not be forgotten. A spot would be found for Patton too.
Finally, the telephone on the Resolute Desk had to go. MacArthur had never liked the devices, far too often they reminded him of how his hearing was failing him. His father had coped just fine with plain old letters, and he would do the same. He had done the same, with no telephone ever being installed in his Dai Ichi office. If someone needed to reach the White House by phone, they could speak to Almond. The procedure would not change just because someone couldn’t be bothered to come to Washington. Not on MacArthur’s watch it wouldn’t.
- BNC