GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/30/1959 - HFSID 16611

DOUGLAS MacARTHUR
Douglas MacArthur sends a letter to a silent film-era star to thank her for a birthday greeting on his 79th birthday.
Typed letter signed "Douglas Mac Arthur". 1 page, 8x10¼. Jan. 30, 1959. Addressed to Miss Corrine Griffith, Beverly Hills, California. In full: "Dear Corrine: Thank you so much for your birthday greeting. It was thoughtful, indeed, of you and I appreciate it. Our tax situation seems to go from bad to worse. Jean joins me in affectionate greetings. Most sincerely, DOUGLAS MacARTHUR." Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) graduated #1 in his class at West Point (1903) and rose to brigadier general as a combat leader in France during World War I. He was named US Army Chief of Staff in 1930, and lost popularity by forcibly expelling the Depression era Bonus Army from Washington (1932). Through most of the 1930s, he was chief military advisor to the Philippines, a US protectorate preparing for independence. He commanded U.S. Army forces in the Far East (1941-1942), becoming Allied Supreme Commander in the Southwest Pacific in 1942. In December 1944, he was promoted to 5-star General of the Army. General MacArthur later accepted the surrender of Japan aboard the battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945. As Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in charge of the Occupation of Japan, MacArthur presided over a sweeping and largely successful transformation of Japan, including a new, democratic constitution. Supreme Commander of United Nations forces in Korea (1950-1951), he was dismissed by President Harry S Truman in April 1951, for his continued public statements advocating extension of the war to Communist China. He supported Republican Dwight Eisenhower's successful Presidential candidacy in 1952, but had little influence on the new President, who negotiated peace in Korea instead of following MacArthur's recommendation to expand the war. After leaving the Army, MacArthur gave two well remembered speeches: his farewell address to the US Congress (1951) and a final speech at West Point (1962). Otherwise in fine condition.