Was Truman Right To Fire MacArthur?

[J. J.]

Yes.

First, MacArthur made a major military mistake by believing and advising Truman that the Chinese would not engage in Korea.  I think I would have seriously considered removing him for that, because he ignored the intelligence.

Second, MacArthur was under orders not to speak publicly to the press, without State Department approval.  He did.  He was also dictating policy that contradicted US policy.

[J. J.]

Well, that depends on your viewpoint. If you think that a war with China and the Soviet Union, possibly nuclear, would be a good thing, then the answer is no. If - like most sane people - you think this wouldn't be a good thing, then the answer is yes.

I disagree.  Had that been the policy of the US (and it was close to that), there would have been no problem.

[J. J.]

Well, that depends on your viewpoint. If you think that a war with China and the Soviet Union, possibly nuclear, would be a good thing, then the answer is no. If - like most sane people - you think this wouldn't be a good thing, then the answer is yes.

I disagree.  Had that been the policy of the US (and it was close to that), there would have been no problem.

Yes, but it wasn't policy so MacArthur was guilty of violating orders.  Now, whether he was right or not to disobey orders does depend on one's viewpoint.

Actually, the Truman Administration was drafting orders to authorize nuclear weapons to be used, at least according to some sources: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur#CITEREFJames1985

[J. J.]

Of course not. We have Truman to thank for the fact that we still have North Korea.

We rather have to thank Truman there weren't nuclear war.

Actually, it was Eisenhower's threat of using nuclear weapons that forced the armistice