re: #114 EdDantes

Just what I was thinking. I was just looking for a MacArthur quote about a, “temporary occupant of the white house”. Can’t find the whole quote or context.

MacArthur and Truman

Truman said, “Then why did you refuse my direct order and give a personal ultimatum to the Chinese?”
MacArthur fired back, “Your gag order was part of the dangerous concept- that armed forces owe their primary allegiance to you temporary occupants of the White House - instead of to the Country and the Constitution we’re sworn to defend!”
“Mac, you should have listened to the Joint Chiefs: ‘It’s fundamental that all military commanders must be governed by the constitutional guarantee of CIVILIAN control over the military.’ People who think they’re God get themselves in trouble. Americans have common sense- when you get too far out of line, they’re gonna put you out of business.”
MacArthur insisted, “But once war has been forced upon us, war’s very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. There can be no substitute for victory. History teaches that appeasement only begets new and bloodier war. Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new, increasingly greater demands, until violence is the only alternative!”