Supreme Commander: MacArthur's Triumph in Japan

Seymour Morris, Jr. steps beyond geographic and historic boundaries when attempting to show readers the most defining characteristic traits, qualities, and qualifications of what may exemplify a leader. In the case of General Douglas MacArthur, Morris covers all of the above in Supreme Commander: MacArthur's Triumph in Japan, which is both an biographical and historical account of General of the Army, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) during the post-World War II period and the allied occupation of Japan who became the liberator, protectorate, and conqueror of the land of the rising sun between 1945-1950. MacArthur and individuals within General Headquarters (GHQ), men and women, and the reluctant collaboration of key figures of Japan's governmental body the Diet helped to rebuild a country based on and modeled after the basic foundations of its western counterpart the United States of freedom and democracy.The book covers a great deal of the basic premise that helped to influence and shape MacArthur's vision for Japan's future, especially after the second world war and the quick rise of a cold war that brew amongst its neighbors, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia that undeniably showed by 1946. In addition, Morris reiterates what historians have attested to the success of the democratization of Japan, John Dower in Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II and Eiji Takemae with Inside GHQ: The Allied Occupation of Japan and its Legacy, which he also credits within the book. However, what makes this book different from the previous two? Morris focuses on MacArthur's role and the type of leadership that he displayed on and off the playing field of planning and development within his non-combatant strategy to reconstruct a country and its people that suffered a catastrophic downfall as result of a political-military regime that drastically affected Japan's ancient traditions that resulted in a world war conflict within the Asian and Pacific rim. As the annals of the history of General MacArthur have documented, the ink was barely dry from the document of surrender by 1945 when the call of duty and orders by President Truman beckoned, MacArthur heeded and steered forward to rehabilitate the country's entire structure from its governmental and political, social, economic, and cultural and religious structure possibly to what it may have looked like before 1931 or 1936. Whichever year one may want to theorize in terms of the history of Japan and after extreme changes took place and spurts of Japan's concept of a East Asian co-prosperity sphere was declared, MacArthur and the Allied occupation basically were responsible for supervising the changes in Japan with utmost determination not to fail and with the acknowledgment by Emperor Hirohito and by the people of the country.Morris does a good job retelling this part of history that many may have forgotten or overlooked in their understanding of the aftermath of World War II and the surrender of Japan. Supreme Commander continues where that part of history left off, which is recommended for readers. One may will have a sense of time and place by revisiting this place in history and placing the importance of General Douglas's role as not only one of the most historic generals but a leader and a man that stood by the words that "there is no substitute for victory."

"Supreme Commander" is more than a well researched and well written book on an important subject: it is a necessary book for all interested in the modern world. Few know the story that Seymour Morris tells. Many should know. Here it is in a brief very readable volume. Nowhere needs to read it more than Washington. Lack of a book like "Supreme Commander" has misled emerging nations round the world to thinking that all that is necessary for a Japanese style Economic Miracle to take place in their land is to get rid of incompetent rulers and introduce democracy. The book is worth buying just to get Morris's account of how MacArthur handled the Japanese near general strike of 1948 (p 171-174).I do, however, have an important comment to make about "Supreme Commander": Morris says nothing about the role of MacArthur's Civil Communications Section (CCS) in the creation of the world stunning Japanese Consumer Electronics Industry and the subsequent emergence of Toyota and the Japanese automobile industry. Not all emerging nations will be leaders in the information world, though some will be but all will have to learn and take part in something like what Al. Chandler called "The Visible Hand" in any area they want to succeed. It took only three engineers (some say four) in the Industrial Division of General MacArthur's Civil Communications Section (CCS), Frank Polkinghorn, Charles Protzman and Homer Sarasohn to bring the Visible Hand of the ATT, the major US Communications Corporation to Japan. Polkinghorn of Bell Labs had been responsible for America's top level wartime secret communications system, "SIGNALY", so secret that even its name was not declassified till 1976. Protzman had run Western Electric's largest factories and had a reputation (unlike the Japanese) for producing quality goods, while young Sarasohn was a member of the famous top level RAD Lab at MIT. All three lost their high priority jobs when the war ended and accepted offers to work for MacArthur taking not only their ability and know-how but their high level US contacts to Japan.I have been in touch with Seymour. He tells me that if he had been aware of CCS he would have noted it. I do not lecture much these days but we have agreed to make a joint presentation at Rutherfurd Hall, New Jersey later this year, hopefully in November. The importance of CCS is such that I think it could justify a new edition! For more detail of CCS, see Chapter 10: "Three Wise Men from the West" in our well reviewed "The Puritan Gift" by Ken and Will Hopper, my archive of CCS papers at the Drucker Institute in Claremont, CA. and our website: www.puritangift.com Ken Hopper"Historians a thousand years from now may give the last war only a line, saying, `And then the whole world was swept by a conflagration.' But I believe there will be a page, maybe a chapter, telling how freedom and democracy were brought to the Far East by the United States - one of the greatest and perhaps the noblest single achievement of our country."General Douglas MacArthur (1992).

MacArthur has participated in many big events such as the first- and the second world war, the Korean war and he has been the leader of Westpoint Academy and Military Chief of staff to Franklin D.Roosevelt, but maybe his biggest achievement was the rebuilding of Japan. Not much is said about this in the historian books, but actually he changed a feudal community, led by an emperor, into a modern democracy by giving them a new constitution, emancipated the women and gave them rights to vote.....

It is, as I anticipated, a superb account of General MacArthur's democratising of Japan following the Second World War