The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 33
Harriman tried to point out the basic differences between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek: Chiang Kai-shek was "merely ambitious" and wanted to use Taiwan as a springboard to return to mainland China; the United States intended to establish an independent government on Taiwan through the United Nations.

MacArthur made a proposal that was ruthless even by the standards of what Harriman had seen and heard in Stalinist Russia.MacArthur acknowledged that it was impossible for Chiang Kai-shek to regain the mainland, but he believed that "it might be a good idea to let him attack the mainland and get rid of him there."Harriman listened to his advice without saying a word.

Harriman had a delicate mission on his trip, which he did not include in his written report.When he left for Tokyo, Truman told him that he actually wanted him to carefully observe MacArthur's words and actions, and report to the President when he returned that he believed that MacArthur was mentally and physically capable of continuing to be competent for his command.Harriman readily complied.Although his conclusions were not on the record, there was a small sign that he had warned the president to be more careful.Within days of Harriman's return, Truman sent his trusted physician and friend, Major General Frank Lowe, to Tokyo with instructions "to make a report to General MacArthur on his physical condition and ability to deal with important events within his authority."Lowe reported that MacArthur was "in good spirits," and the White House called it quits.

Truman "thought . . . that General MacArthur would accept his Commander in Chief's policy toward Taiwan."After Truman listened to Harriman's report, he said at a press conference on August 8: "General MacArthur and I are in complete agreement, and since he took up his current job, we have always been the same.  … I have great respect for him. Satisfied with the present job." Although this statement is far from the truth, Truman is sending a signal to MacArthur that he is willing to put aside the past.If the general had been more politically conscious, he would have realized that Truman had actually put him on probation.However, MacArthur looked at the situation from a completely different perspective.He boldly challenged Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and they backed down.He knew that Secretary of Defense Johnson supported him in letting Chiang Kai-shek go free to harass the Communist Party in mainland China.MacArthur can keep silent for a while, but he knows that he will have the opportunity to publicly express his views on the Taiwan issue.An official history of the Joint Chiefs of Staff aptly writes that he finally "enlarged a hairline rift into a . . . impenetrable chasm."

cabinet chaos
After the first days of the war, President Truman knew he would have to face an unpleasant event: the removal of Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson.The task was difficult because Truman had known Johnson since the post-World War I years, when both were active in veterans affairs.Johnson went on to become a successful lawyer with offices in his hometown of West Virginia and Washington, and was president of the National Legion.During World War II, he served as a senior civilian officer in the War Department, and Truman, then a senator, found Johnson helpful in matters of industrial mobilization.Truman was so impressed with Johnson that he asked him to finance his 1948 campaign.At a time when few were willing to donate to a campaign that was clearly hopeless, Johnson excelled in extremely difficult conditions.

In 1949, James Forrest, the first secretary of the newly created Ministry of Defense, began to suffer from mental deterioration, which ended in suicide.Truman, wishing to commend Johnson for his effectiveness in the campaign, chose him to be Secretary of Defense.The appointment worried some observers, such as New York Times military reporter Hanson Baldwin."I'm sure those of us who knew him ... most of us would think it was going to be a disaster. He's a politician through and through, and he's going to sacrifice any defense ... or combat effectiveness for political gain," he said. .” In Baldwin’s view, Johnson was “completely Truman’s tool.”

Johnson initially pleased Truman.He has made drastic cuts to the military budget.He canceled an order for an aircraft carrier that admirals had long coveted, thus quelling a rowdy naval and air squabble.He was not afraid of the high ranking officers.Then Truman began to notice that something was wrong with his old friend.

Something happened.My view is that the "Washington Power Disease" and a condition was responsible for the final fiasco.

Lewis began to reveal an overly self-centered desire to run the government.He offended every cabinet member.At every one of our cabinet meetings, he makes it obvious that he knows more about the problems of the Treasury Department, Commerce Department, Labor Department, Agriculture Department than those ministers.He looks down on nobody, including all these ministers.He never misses an opportunity to speak ill of my team of personal assistants.

Then, much to Truman's chagrin, Johnson "attempted to use the White House reporters to flatter himself and put down others, especially the Secretary of State."Johnson also made malicious remarks about the government while speaking to Truman's sworn enemies in the Senate (Kenneth Wheley, Joseph McCarthy, Irving Brewster, Robert Taft, Bock Higanluper, and others) Attack, Truman called his remarks "extremely harmful."

Johnson's malicious slander against Acheson in the early days of the Korean War was particularly infuriating.News reports, directed by Johnson, blamed Acheson's inefficiency on America's slow start to the war and said he was likely to be removed from office.White House deputy press secretary Eben Ailes, often used by the president as a talking mouthpiece, quoted Truman as saying during a private tantrum: "The truth is, there's no way they're going to get the Department of Defense to act." If this continues, "we're going to have a new secretary of defense."

Johnson, however, was constantly getting in the way. On a Saturday, July 7, Truman quietly left the White House and took a cruise on the presidential yacht "Williamsburg" to relax for a few hours and put the war behind him.When the Williamsburg arrived at the Washington Navy Yard, Johnson showed up unannounced and boarded the yacht.Ailes wrote in his diary: "All of us saw it: he was strutting, and he knew that the journalists would be there to see him."

On the afternoon of the next day, Sunday, July 7, Truman and his daughter Margaret drove into rural Virginia to visit General George Marshall at his home in Leesburg.Truman had great admiration for Marshall, who served as Army chief of staff during World War II and later as secretary of state.But in early 2, Marshall had to retire after having one of his kidneys removed, and he currently serves as president of the American Red Cross, an essentially honorary position.Marshall told Truman that he was content with his retirement, but he also said, "I am a soldier and you are my commander in chief, and if you want me to go to the Department of Defense, I will serve." Johnson acted, but he wanted Marshall to consider returning to government.

A day or so later, Johnson got himself into the worst possible trouble as Harry Truman's underling: disloyalty to the president.Averell Harriman arrived at the White House "pale and distraught" to tell the president something extraordinary.He had been to Johnson's office while the defense secretary was on the phone with Senator Taft.Harriman heard Johnson congratulate Taft on a speech he had made a few days earlier.In this speech, Taft criticized Truman for not consulting Congress before taking action on the North Korean crisis, and demanded that Acheson resign.Johnson told Taft that the speech was "remarkable."After the call with Taft, Johnson told Harriman that if they "can get Acheson down," he would "see Harriman as Secretary of State."

Harriman left, immediately reporting the conversation to the president, saying he (Harriman) "wasn't that easy to buy."

Truman also heard other disturbing news.A friend told him that Johnson had declared to a group of West Virginia Republicans that he would "be the conservative presidential nominee of the Republican Party" "on certain terms of General Eisenhower's possible candidacy."Johnson also kept leaking government secrets to columnist Drew Pearson, often to the detriment of Acheson and other cabinet members.Truman said in a conversation with Ailes in late August that Johnson's condition "has become hopeless" but that the president "doesn't seem to have the means at this time" to remove him.Ailes wrote in his diary: "The president ... is well aware that if Johnson is removed now, it will start a storm and provide more shells for critics and political opponents."

Acheson, however, refused to take on Johnson in Washington's sordid political backyard.Although the Alsops brothers noted in their newspaper column that the "total loss of principle" was "Johnson's chief talisman," Acheson ordered his State Department staff not to criticize or belittle the Secretary of Defense in any way.He knew the president's confidence in him, and he knew that Truman would not tolerate such a retrograde cabinet member for long.When the time came, Johnson would bring the blame upon himself and commit a fatal catastrophe.Sure enough, Johnson stumbled on a matter related to General MacArthur.

(End of this chapter)