MacArthur vs. Eisenhower and other military presidential races

pnyckqx

Banned
No, don't let anyone fool you. No way does the working man, or veteran, or their families, forget the Summer of 1932. It wasn't that MacArthur followed his orders. He exceeded them by firing the Washington Hooverville. It was that HE PERSONALLY, AS THE US ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, oversaw an operation fit to be commanded by a Colonel, at most.

And he did it in his Class-A uniform, complete with all ribbons and medals, and slapping a riding crop in his hands! Doing this with the full knowledge that the newsreel cameras were running. All he would have needed to complete the picture was to get on a black horse and start speaking in a spanish accent. I imagine the Communists must have had a propaganda field day. He became the instant national darling of the ultraright, but the pariah of the entire left AND center.

If he got the nomination, Truman will win, in 1948 and/or 1952. If Truman's not running, Stevenson's facing the only candidate he CAN beat.
The incident would have had no more affect on MacArthur's political future than it did Eisenhower's. Eisenhower also participated in the operation as did George Patton.

While the number of troops would have normally been a Colonel's command, the fact remains that President Hoover ordered MacArthur to take personal command of troops. There is no way that MacArthur or any other soldier was going to disobey a lawful direct order from the President.

No shots were fired by the Army.

MacArthur never received Hoover's orders to stop at the Anacostia bridge, George Van Horn Moseley's account notwithstanding.

Moseley's account is contradicted in the accounts of Assistant Secretary of War, F. Trubee Davidson, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Brigadier General Perry L. Miles, who commanded the 16th Infantry Regiment.

Interesting note: The Patman Bill (Bonus Bill) was also vetoed by President Rooseveldt in 1934.

With the Democratic Party split into three factions and a Republican candidate who was not afraid to be more confrontational (unlike Thomas Dewey), it would have been an easy win for MacArthur, provided that other skeletons in MacArthur's closet were not exposed. --There was the matter of the teenage Philippine mistress that could have sunk him, as well as being divorced from his first wife.
 
There is no way Mac wins the GOP in 48 or 52. No matter how hard he trys. The Bonsus Army will haunt him. No matter if some say he only did his duty and followed orders. Sounds too much like what the NAZI generals said when they went on trial. Also The Republican party was not super right wing in that time period. They had Taft and he never got the nomination. He tried 4 times. Ike was a moderate and many would say he would be a Democrat in the 21st century train of thought when it comes to politics. The Democrats were a lot more liberal in the years 1932-1964.than they are now. The country was a lot more liberal. Only one conservative got nominated for President during that time period. Goldwater 1964. It was not a close race. And what does Obama have to do with this thread? He was never in the military. Like most Americans during the same time period.
 
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