The Fifties

by David Halberstam

Truman’s firing of MacArthur had a profound effect on the 1952 presidential race, wounding the President even more than it had the general. It also advanced the political chances of Dwight Eisenhower. The country was not in the mood to return to isolationism. It wanted to be reassured, not threatened. Who better to do that than a general who was a hero and an internationalist and who had successfully made the transition to being a civilian. Eisenhower was MacArthur’s sworn enemy. As William Manchester wrote, MacArthur’s feelings toward Ike were very much like those of Cain toward Abel. Eisenhower had made the supreme mistake of being a MacArthur aide who had gone on to surpass his boss. MacArthur still, on occasion, referred to Ike as “the best clerk I ever had.” It was the final irony that Douglas MacArthur’s desperate desire for the White House eased the way there for Dwight Eisenhower, who did not seem to want it at all.