Douglas MacArthur II | |
|---|---|
 MacArthur in 1965 | |
| United States Ambassador to Iran | |
| In office October 13, 1969 – February 17, 1972 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Armin H. Meyer |
| Succeeded by | Joseph S. Farland |
| United States Ambassador to Austria | |
| In office May 24, 1967 – September 16, 1969 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | James Williams Riddleberger |
| Succeeded by | John P. Humes |
| 9thAssistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs | |
| In office March 14, 1965 – March 6, 1967 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Fred Dutton |
| Succeeded by | William B. Macomber Jr. |
| United States Ambassador to Belgium | |
| In office May 9, 1961 – February 11, 1965 | |
| President | John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | William A. M. Burden |
| Succeeded by | Ridgway B. Knight |
| 16thUnited States Ambassador to Japan | |
| In office February 25, 1957 – March 12, 1961 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | John M. Allison |
| Succeeded by | Edwin Reischauer |
| 10thCounselor of the United States Department of State | |
| In office March 30, 1953 – December 16, 1956 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Charles E. Bohlen |
| Succeeded by | G. Frederick Reinhardt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Douglas MacCalla MacArthur II (1909-07-05)July 5, 1909 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | November 15, 1997(1997-11-15) (aged 88) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Laura Goditiabois-Deacon (née MacArthur) |
| Parent |
|
| Education | Yale University |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | U.S. Army Reserve |
| Years of service | 1930s |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Unit |  Field Artillery Branch |
Douglas MacArthur II (July 5, 1909 – November 15, 1997) was an American diplomat. During his diplomatic career, he served asUnited States ambassador to Japan,Belgium,Austria, andIran, as well asAssistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.[1] He was a nephew of the U.S. generalDouglas MacArthur.[2]
MacArthur's parents were CaptainArthur H. MacArthur, III and Mary McCalla MacArthur. Through his mother, he was a grandson ofBowman H. McCalla, great-grandson of ColonelHorace Binney Sargent, and great-great-grandson ofLucius Manlius Sargent. Named for his uncle,GeneralDouglas MacArthur, he was born inBryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1909.[3]
MacArthur graduated fromMilton Academy in Milton, Mass., and fromYale College, Class of 1932.
He married Laura Louise Barkley on August 21, 1934; she was the daughter of future U.S. Vice PresidentAlben Barkley.[3] They had a daughter named Laura MacArthur, two grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.[4] Douglas's daughter married Henry Goditiabois-Deacon, aBelgian man with whom she had a daughter.President Johnson signed a special bill conferringU.S. citizenship to Laura's daughter in 1965.[5]
In the mid 1930s, MacArthur served as asecond lieutenant in theU.S. Army Reserve,Field Artillery Branch. He also worked as an assistant to the sub-districtsupervisor in theWashington D.C. Armyheadquarters of sub-district 17.[6][7]
After serving as an Army officer, MacArthur began his Foreign Service career in 1935 with a post inVancouver. He was assigned toVichy France during the early years ofWorld War II, served as secretary of the U.S. Embassy there from 1940 to 1942, and was interned in Baden Baden, Germany with other U.S. diplomatic staff and civilians for two years after the U.S. broke relations with the Vichy government. Following an internee exchange in March 1944, he served as part of GeneralDwight Eisenhower's political staff and then led the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Paris until 1948.[8] He went on to become chief of the State Department's Division of Western European Affairs in 1949, where he assisted in the formation ofNATO, and served as Counselor of the State Department from 1953 to 1956, where he led the U.S. negotiations for theSEATO treaty.[3][9]
MacArthur was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Japan in December 1956 and presented his credentials in February 1957.[9]
During his four years in Tokyo, MacArthur oversaw the re-negotiation of theU.S.-Japan Security Treaty, known as "Anpo" in Japanese. MacArthur appeared on the cover of the June 27, 1960, issue ofTime magazine, in which he was characterized as "the principal architect of present-day U.S. policy toward Japan."[10]
However, the new treaty was met with the massiveAnpo Protests in Japan, and was only ratified with great difficulty.[11] As the protests grew in size in June 1960, MacArthur summoned the heads of major newspapers and television stationNHK to his office and demanded more favorable coverage of the treaty.[12]
Then on June 10, MacArthur deliberately provoked the so-called "Hagerty Incident" (ハガチー事件,Hagachii jiken). That afternoon, MacArthur was leaving Tokyo'sHaneda Airport in a black car carrying himself and President Eisenhower's press secretaryJames Hagerty, who had just arrived in Japan to prepare for a planned visit by Eisenhower, when MacArthur ordered that the car be deliberately driven into a large crowd of anti-treaty protesters.[13] The mob surrounded the car and proceeded to smash the car's windows and tail lights, slash its tires, and dance on the roof until MacArthur and Hagerty finally had to be rescued by aU.S. Marine helicopter.[14] MacArthur had hoped that by provoking the incident, he would force the Japanese government to carry out a more forceful police response to suppress the protests ahead of Eisenhower's planned arrival. However, MacArthur's gambit backfired, as widespread shock at the Hagerty Incident helped force prime ministerNobusuke Kishi to cancel Eisenhower's visit, for fears that his safety could not be guaranteed.[15]
It was revealed in 1974 that MacArthur had negotiated a secret agreement with the Japanese foreign ministerAiichiro Fujiyama to allow the transit of American nuclear weapons through Japanese territory.[3] It was also revealed, through documents declassified in the 2000s, that MacArthur pressured the Japanese judiciary, including Chief JusticeKōtarō Tanaka, to uphold the legality of theUnited States military presence in Japan after a lower court decision found it unconstitutional.[16]
Following his time in Japan, MacArthur served as Ambassador toBelgium (1961–1965), Assistant Secretary of State (1965–1967), Ambassador toAustria (1967–1969) and Ambassador toIran (1969–1972). While in the latter post, he escaped an attempted kidnapping in 1970 by a network of opposition guerillas in Iran.[17][3][8][18] Months later, Iranian military officials sentenced four guerrillas to life imprisonment for their involvement in the attempted kidnapping.[19]
SAVAK also later claimed that sixty members of the Iranian Liberation Organization faced charges related to planned kidnapping.[20][21][22]
MacArthur died inWashington, D.C., in 1997.[3]
Douglas's addresses, speeches and statements, 1957-1995; correspondence as U.S. ambassador; writings of Douglas MacArthur II; and photographs of the MacArthur family, 1905 to 1997, were donated to theMacArthur Memorial by his daughter Laura MacArthur.[23]
During this period the threat from militant organizations in Iran was high. An attack on a military outpost in the village of Siahkal, by a radical Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group named Fadaiyan-e Khalq (Martyrs for the Masses), on 8 February 1971, ushered in a new phase of opposition to the Shah's regime. Moreover, and alarmingly for the security services, the group made it one of their principal objectives to disrupt the Celebrations. Around the time of the festivities, US Ambassador Douglas Macarthur was almost kidnapped by gunmen who ambushed his limousine, and a plan to kidnap the British ambassador, Peter Ramsbotham, was also uncovered. More attempted kidnappings prompted an increase in security, as the Dutch ambassador explained in a report in early October... SAVAK later claimed that sixty members of the Iranian Liberation Organization were charged with plotting to carry out kidnappings during the Celebrations.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Japan 1957–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Belgium 1961–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Austria 1967–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Iran 1969–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs March 14, 1965 – March 6, 1967 | Succeeded by |
| Resident Minister | |
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| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | |
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | |
| Chargé d'Affaires |  | |
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| Minister Resident | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | ||
 Austrian Empire(1838–1867) | | |
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 Austro-Hungarian Empire(1867–1917) | ||
 Republic of Austria(1921–1938, 1946–present) | ||
| Minister Resident | | |
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| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | ||
Diplomatic relations suspended since 1979 (See:Iran hostage crisis) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
