Truman's fateful 1951 decision. Did he get it wrong? Part 1
Harry Truman was known as a decisive man. It had been his decision to drop The Bomb on Hiroshima and later Nagasaki, resulting in over 100,000 deaths. Upon making the decision to drop the bombs he is said to have slept without a whimper. Truman’s decisonmaking throughout his presidency was solid. The Marshall Plan, the saving of Greece, the abandonment of Taiwan, the firing of MacArthur. These things all made perfect sense and were without question, the best thing to do. As was his decision to stand and fight in Korea. We all know how badly MacArthur underestimated the Chinese during his island visit with Truman on Wake Island. From a Western point of view, his thinking made sense. The Chinese Army at that time had nothing at its disposal. Yet today we remember the thrashing the American forces took on its long retreat back past Seoul. Now only a few mon...