If ever a commander had earned the right to petition for a decision on such grounds, MacArthur was that man. Since December 1941—and even since the Spanish-American War, one might say—American honor, prestige, and credibility had been at stake in the Philippines. Since the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, the chief aim of U.S. policy had been to assist the Filipino people in constructing a functioning democracy capable of repelling aggressors.
