Arthur MacArthur IV | |
|---|---|
 MacArthur in 1950 | |
| Born | February 21, 1938 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Browning School Columbia College |
| Parents |
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Arthur MacArthur IV (born February 21, 1938) is the only child of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Jean MacArthur. He is also the grandson of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur Jr.
Arthur MacArthur IV's early life was chronicled extensively in the press. His early childhood was spent around the penthouse built for his father atop the Manila Hotel. [1] Arthur's father would play with him every morning before work. [2] After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, Arthur, his mother and his nanny were forced to relocate from the Manila Hotel as bombs fell nearby. [2] : 223 They first joined Arthur's father on Corregidor Island and then were evacuated by PT boat and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber to Brisbane, Australia. [2] : 268 [3] The United Press agency reported in March 1942 on the boy's escape with his family and that he was a "real MacArthur, a soldier like his father and grandfather". [4] Life made Arthur their cover story in August 1942 and reported on such matters as the boy's life in Australia, his "curiously mixed-up accent", his kindergarten routine, and his new tricycle. [5]
While the fighting was going on in the Philippines, Arthur and his mother left Brisbane on the refrigerator ship Columbia Express. They arrived in Manila on March 6, 1945, and were met by his father, who ferried out on a Higgins (or LCVP) boat, as there was no place for the ship to dock. [6] Upon arriving in Manila, they discovered that their old penthouse at the Manila Hotel was burned down by the Japanese, and thus they took up residence at "Casa Blanca," the house of Russian Jewish-born American businessman Emil Bachrach in Santa Mesa, which also happened to be the house used by General Tomoyuki Yamashita before he evacuated to Baguio with his Northern Force. [7] [8]
After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the family moved to Tokyo, from where the United Press agency reported in 1946 that eight-year-old Arthur MacArthur was considered a "musical prodigy". [9] Arthur's first meeting with Emperor Hirohito of Japan's sons, the future Emperor Akihito and Prince Masahito in September 1949, at a swimming meet, was covered by Sir Keith Murdoch's Adelaide News under the headline "MacArthur's son and Jap. princes". [10]
Even trivial childhood matters could find their way into the newspapers. When Arthur broke his arm ice skating in Tokyo in May 1947, the Australian Associated Press reported that "[d]octors said he behaved 'like a soldier'". [11]
Not only doctors assumed that Arthur had the makings of a soldier. Perhaps inevitably, as he was the son and grandson of Army generals, it was assumed by soldiers, newspaper correspondents, and even by his mother that Arthur would be a soldier. At Arthur's christening his mother was asked whether Arthur would attend the United States Military Academy at West Point and replied "how can he help it, having such a father?" [2] : 178 The troops on Corregidor called four-year-old Arthur "the Sergeant". [2] : 229 Inevitably, Douglas MacArthur also wished for a military career for his son, writing "I hope that God will let me live to see the day that young Arthur MacArthur is sworn in on The Plain as a plebe at West Point". [2] : 517
Upon Douglas MacArthur's dismissal by President Truman, MacArthur flew home with his family on April 18, 1951. Arthur, then aged 13, had never been to the United States. [12]
The family's return to the United States brought intense media scrutiny of the General's son as well as the father. Douglas' selection as "Father of the Year" in June 1942 by the National Father's Day Committee, together with his reputation for being a particularly devoted father, drew attention to his only son. [13] [14] [15] While newspapers' political correspondents focused on Douglas MacArthur's testimony before the Senate in Washington in May 1951, the general press sought out human interest stories connected to Arthur, his mother and his Chinese nanny, Ah Cheu. [16] The New York Times ran a front-page story covering young MacArthur's first visit to a Major League Baseball game, as "guest of Horace Stoneham, owner of the Giants." [17] Only two days later the Times ran another story (this time only on page 5) covering Arthur's first visit to a circus, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden. [18] The article was subheadlined "Two Notables Meet At The Garden" above the photo caption "The 13-year-old son of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Felix Adler, King of the clowns." The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where the family had taken up residence, was besieged by press and photographers. Scripps's Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicate reported that "Arthur is the object of staring eyes and photographers' flash-bulbs and reporters' questions." [19]
The popular interest continued. In May 1951 the United Press syndicate ran a story reporting that young MacArthur was to receive a "100-year old peace pipe as a gift" from the people of Havre, Montana. [20]
Not all the attention was flattering. The Associated Press reported the same year that Arthur MacArthur was "'Gifted,' But Gift Is Not Spelling." The article went on to quote his tutor saying that the "outstanding talent of 13-year-old Arthur MacArthur is a gift for music, but spelling is his weakness". Phillis Gibbons said that Arthur MacArthur "is just an ordinary American boy, like your son or mine. He is quite intelligent but he can't spell – what American boy can?" [21]
Gibbons ("'Gibby', Tutor of Young Mac" according to a front-page headline in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle ) was summoned from Tokyo to tutor Arthur for some time. [22] [23] Thereafter, Arthur attended New York's Browning School until he entered Columbia University [3] as a freshman in 1956. The New York Times reported Arthur MacArthur's admission along with that of the son of MacKinlay Kantor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. [24]
Interest in Arthur MacArthur was not limited to the press. Hope Cooke, a contemporary in New York who later became Queen of Sikkim, commented in her autobiography that "all the parents want[ed] their daughters to dance with Arthur MacArthur, the general's son... when he comes to church with his parents, there is always a huge crowd on the steps to watch them go by." [25]
MacArthur graduated from Columbia University in 1961, having majored in English. [2] : 702 , [3] [15] The only non-prizewinning student mentioned by name in The New York Times was Arthur MacArthur. [26] The New York Times pointed out that MacArthur's parents sat in the box of the president of the university, Grayson L. Kirk, with the General in full dress uniform.
After graduation, MacArthur avoided the public spotlight. The United Press agency reported following his father's funeral in 1964 that, since graduating, "the tall handsome young man ... has made few public appearances." [23] The Associated Press reported the same year that "MacArthur's Son Shuns Military Life" but pointed out that "his childhood had been filled with war." [3] Arthur MacArthur reportedly lives under an assumed name. [27]
Apparently, MacArthur lived in the Mayflower Hotel on New York's Upper West Side until 2004 when it was demolished. Forbes magazine tracked him down in 2005 but MacArthur "declined to be interviewed". [28] In 2014, MacArthur was featured in a New York Post article that discussed his long and secret residency in the hotel. [29] Michael Gross's 2014 book, House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World's Most Powerful Address , also devoted a page to the mystery of MacArthur's life and assumed name. [27] When the hotel was demolished, he moved to Greenwich Village. [27] In 2024, upon the occasion of his father being awarded the Order of Military Merit (First Class) by the Republic of Korea, Arthur MacArthur issued his first public statement in at least six decades. [30]
In his mother Jean's obituary, only Arthur and Jean's sister Angie McCarthy are mentioned; no grandchildren are mentioned. [31] When Arthur moved out of the Mayflower Hotel he was described by lawyer Michael Grabow as one of four "bachelors" living there, implying Arthur was never married. [32]
Douglas MacArthur was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He served with distinction in World War I, was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and was Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in the Pacific theater during World War II. MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, and received it for his service in the Philippines campaign. This made him along with his father, Arthur MacArthur Jr., the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the U.S. Army, and the only one conferred the rank of field marshal in the Philippine Army.
Arthur MacArthur Jr. was a lieutenant general of the United States Army. He became the military Governor-General of the American-occupied Philippines in 1900; his term ended a year later due to clashes with the civilian governor, future-U.S. President William Howard Taft.
MacKinlay Kantor, born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel, Andersonville. He also wrote the novel Gettysburg, set during the Civil War.
Jean Marie MacArthur was the second wife of U.S. Army General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.
Major General Courtney Whitney was a lawyer and United States Army commander during World War II who later served as a senior official during the American occupation of Japan (1945–1951). He played a major role in the liberalization of Japanese government, society, and economy during the occupation.
Claire Maybelle Snyder, also known as Clara Fuentes, Clara Phillips, Dorothy Fuentes as well as High Pockets, was an American spy, entertainer, club owner, and writer most noted for her exploits in the Japanese-occupied Philippines. She was portrayed by Ann Dvorak in the 1951 movie I Was an American Spy. She was also the author of Manila Espionage, a book about her wartime experiences. In 1951, she was awarded the Medal of Freedom.
Elizabeth Cooper was a Filipina film actress, vaudeville dancer, and singer. In addition to her brief movie career, Cooper was also known for being the mistress of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur.
Samuel Studdiford Stratton was an American Democratic political figure in Upstate New York. He is notable for his service as Mayor of Schenectady, and his 30-year career as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
The Philippines campaign, Battle of the Philippines, Second Philippines campaign, or the Liberation of the Philippines, codenamed Operation Musketeer I, II, and III, was the American, Filipino, Australian, and Mexican campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines during World War II.
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines occurred between 1941 and 1944, when the Japanese Empire occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II.
Paul Delmont Bunker was an American football player and soldier. Bunker attended the U.S. Military Academy and became the first football player at West Point to be selected as a first-team All-American by Walter Camp. Bunker was chosen as an All-American at the tackle position in 1901 and repeated as an All-American in 1902, but as a halfback. He served in the U.S. Army for 40 years and was in command of the coastal artillery forces in the Battle of Corregidor. On the fall of Corregidor, Bunker became a prisoner of war. He died of starvation and disease in a Japanese prison camp in 1943 after losing 70 pounds at the age of 61. His posthumously published journal, Paul Bunker's Diary, became a best-seller. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
The Manila Hotel is a 550-room, historic five-star hotel located along Manila Bay in Manila, Philippines. The hotel is the oldest premiere hotel in the Philippines built in 1909 to rival Malacañang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Philippines and was opened on the commemoration of American Independence on July 4, 1912. The hotel complex was built on a reclaimed area of 35,000 square metres (380,000 sq ft) at the northwestern end of Rizal Park along Bonifacio Drive in Ermita. Its penthouse served as the residence of General Douglas MacArthur during his tenure as the Military Advisor of the Philippine Commonwealth from 1935 to 1941.
This is the service summary of Douglas MacArthur, a General in the United States Army, who began his career in 1903 as a second lieutenant and served in three major military conflicts, going on to hold the highest military offices of both the United States and the Philippines.
Louise Cromwell was an American socialite whose four marriages included seven years as the first wife of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. She was "considered one of Washington's most beautiful and attractive young women".
Club Filipino was the first exclusive social club in the Philippines, founded on November 6, 1898 by Filipino high society, including Spanish mestizos and members of the native aristocracy. It is located between North Greenhills subdivision and the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan.
On 11 April 1951, U.S. president Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of his commands after MacArthur made public statements that contradicted the administration's policies. MacArthur was a popular hero of World War II who was then commander of United Nations Command forces fighting in the Korean War, and his relief remains a controversial topic in the field of civil–military relations.
On 11 March 1942, during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur and members of his family and staff left the Philippine island of Corregidor, where his forces were surrounded by the Japanese. They traveled in PT boats through stormy seas patrolled by Japanese warships and reached Mindanao two days later. From there, MacArthur and his party flew to Australia in a pair of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, ultimately arriving in Melbourne by train on 21 March. In Australia, he declared, "I came through and I shall return".
The MacArthur Leyte Landing Memorial National Park is a protected area of the Philippines that commemorates the historic landing of General Douglas MacArthur in Leyte Gulf at the start of the campaign to recapture and liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation on 20 October 1944. This event led to the largest naval battle of World War II and Japan's eventual defeat and surrender after almost three years. The war memorial is located in the municipality of Palo on Leyte island in Eastern Visayas and is one of the region's major tourist attractions. It was declared a national park on 12 July 1977 through Letter of Instructions No. 572 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos.
Emanuel Maurice "Emil" Bachrach was a Belarusian-Jewish emigrant to the United States who became an entrepreneur and philanthropist in the Philippines.
Outwardly unaffected by his first major league baseball game, Arthur MacArthur, 13-year-old son of the five-star general, yesterday saw his team—the Giants --trounced by the Brooklyn Dodgers 7 to 3.
A 13-year-old American boy saw the Big Show—Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus—for the first time yesterday afternoon. In fact, it was his first circus.
Among the new students are Thomas MacKinlay Kantor, son of MacKinlay Kantor, Pulitzer Prize winning author, and Arthur MacArthur, son of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.
Among the 589 Columbia College graduates who received the Bachelor of Arts degree was Arthur MacArthur, 22-year-old son of General of the Army and Mrs. Douglas MacArthur.