GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 06/26/1963 - HFSID 13609

DOUGLAS MacARTHUR
MacArthur sends a letter to thank a friend for a congratulations note. This letter is signed less than ten months before his death and one month after he dedicated the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia.
Typed letter signed "Douglas MacArthur". With pencil notation on verso in unknown hand. 1 page, 8x7¾. June 26, 1963. Address to Mr. W. L. Harvey, Pensacola, Florida. In full: "Dear Mr. Harvey: Thank you very much for your note of congratulations. It was thoughtful of you to write me and I am most appreciative. With best wishes, Most cordially, 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 Missourion 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). Nick in upper left corner. Folded twice and unfolded. Irregulary cut at lower portion.  Lower left corner torn away. Otherwise in fine condition.