The Truman-MacArthur Controversy and the Korean War

John W. Spanier

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Aware that war is the continuation of politics by other means, John Spanier has written a book which examines in detail relationships between the civilian and the military in the area of policy formulation and prosecution—against the background of the first ten months of the Korean War.

In investigating comprehensively why the President dismissed the General the author explores the political and military issues which separated the two men, and explains how these differences arose.

The conclusion is that President Truman’s dismissal of General MacArthur was necessary in order to maintain civilian supremacy and political direction of the Korean War. In reviewing the history of the controversy Spanier makes full use of UN debates, Congressional debates and Senate hearings, memoirs of the principals, as well as a large amount of other material. The author emphasizes the interplay between domestic politics and foreign policy, and he traces the root of the controversy to the conflict of political objectives of the war.

• Part One. Introduction: Clausewitzian Realism and American Liberalism
  
  • I. Civil-Military Relations and Limited War
• Part Two. The Korean War, June to November 1950: The Period of North Korean Aggression
  
  • II. The North Korean Attack: Communist “Liberation” and American “Containment”
  • III. Domestic Politics and Formosa: The Republican Drang Nach Westen
  • IV. MacArthur, Formosa, and Inchon: The Many-Splendored General
  • V. Crossing the 38th Parallel: The Point of No Return
  • VI. Wake Island: The Eagle’s Two Heads
  • VII. The “Home by Christmas” Offensive: Prelude to Disaster
• Part Three. The Korean War, December 1950 to April 1951: The Period of Chinese Communist Intervention
  
  • VIII. The MacArthur-Taft Alliance: The Great Debate
  • IX. The Allies Seek Peace: Mr. Attlee and Mao Tse-Tito
  • X. China’s Condemnation and MacArthur’s Dismissal: Harry Truman, Middleman
• Part Four: The MacArthur Hearings
  
  • XI. MacArthur Returns: The Eagle Reclaimed
  • XII. The General’s Prosecution: Rebel with a Cause
  • XIII. The Administration’s Defense: The Meek Shall Inherit
  • XIV. Truman Versus MacArthur: Achilles Rebound
• Notes
• Critical Bibliography
• Index

約翰斯帕尼爾的『杜魯門與麥克阿瑟的衝突和朝鮮戰爭』