American Leaders
General Douglas MacArthur was an American general who commanded the Southwest Pacific in World War II. In 1941, he was recalled into active duty and named the commander of U.S. army forces in the Far East. In December 1941, his air force was destroyed in a surprise attack by the Japanese. His forces went to the Bataan peninsula, where they struggled to survive. The following year, MacArthur and his forces fled in Patrol Torpedo boats and escaped to Australia. In April 1942, MacArthur was appointed supreme commander of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific and awarded the Medal of Honor for his defense of the Philippines. He spent the next two and a half years commanding an island-hopping campaign in the Pacific before returning to liberate the Philippines. In December 1944, he was promoted to the rank of general of the Army and soon given command of all Army forces in the Pacific.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower led the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe that began on D-Day. In September 1941, he received his first general’s star with a promotion to brigadier general. He became a full general in early 1943. Later that year, Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and given the responsibility of leading the planned Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. On D-Day, more than 150,000 Allied forces crossed the English Channel and stormed the beaches of Normandy. He returned home to a hero’s welcome in 1945 to serve as chief of staff of the U.S. Army. Eisenhower rose from lieutenant colonel in the Philippines to supreme commander of the victorious forces in Europe in only five years.
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States. He took the job of leading the United States through the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. Truman served as president of the United States and, therefore, Commander in Chief of the United States military during the final months of World War II. Under his command, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, effectively ending the war.
Evin S.