Douglas MacArthur Essay Example for Free

Douglas MacArthur EssayCarlos Pea Romulo once wrote that each of his careers might have been lived in a different country and a different age. Soldier, journalist, educator, author, and diplomat, he was a definitive world figure of the 20th century.Romulo grew up in the town of Camiling in the province of Tarlac in northern Philippines. He was born(p) within the Spanish walled city of Intramuros, manilla paper, on January 14, 1898, at the twilight of one colonial regime and the dawning of another. His father, Gregorio, fought in the revolution for Philippine liberty against Spain and, until surrender, America. The bitterness of the conflicts left an impression on the young person boymarking the beginnings of a rebel, as he called itand he made a promise neer to smile at an American soldier.His levelheaded father eventually welcomed American schoolteachers who came to Tarlac to teach English, however, becoming the archetypical of the towns elders to learn the language. Like wise, the young Romulos hatred abated not only because of his fathers example but also because he became friendly with an American sergeant.His fathers dream of an breakaway and democratic Philippines lived on. One of the last to take his oath of allegiance to America, the elder Romulo l acquire to accept the foreign powers rulings exceptas the young Romulo recounts in his memoirsin the manner of the flag.The American law says we cannot display our flag in any public place, Gregorio Romulo told his family. Well, my bed way of life is not a public place.In World War II Romulo was aide-de-camp to General Douglas MacArthur. As a journalist he wrote a series of articles, after a tour of the far East, about Japanese imperialism, and predicted an attack on the fall in States. For this he won the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Distinguished Correspondence, and it was MacArthur himself who delivered to his friend the good news.His skill at using words made Romulo the logical choice to b ecome the Voice of Freedom, which broadcasted news of the war effort to Filipinos and Americans a ilk. Often contrary to Japanese propaganda, Romulos reports earned the ire of the enemy, who put a price on his head. But Romulo kept broadcasting until the Fall of Bataan, and abandoned his post only after MacArthurs uncompromising orders to leave. He flew first to Australia, eventually ending up in the United States in exile, leaving behind his wife and four sons.In 1924 Romulo married Virginia Llamas, a local beauty titlist. They met at a picnic and they married not long after being crowned King and Queen of a Manila carnival. She once commented that she was the type of wife who preferred to g low-pitched faintly in her husbands shadow, to which one acquaintance quipped, this didnt leave much room to glow ina jab at Romulos height.Standing only 54 in his shoes, Romulo often made fun of his height. His prevail I Walked With Heroes opens with the anecdote about being the newly electe d president of the United Nationsthe first Asian to ever hold the postand having to be perched atop three thick New York City telephone books just to see and be seen by all the delegates below the podium. When MacArthur fulfilled his promise to return to the Philippines, with Romulo at his side, it was reported that the American general was wading in waist-deep water. One correspondent, Walter Winchell, immediately wired back asking how Romulo could have waded in that depth without drowning.He also used his height to his advantage. The little fellow is generally infrarated in the beginning, he once wrote. Then he does something well, and people are surprised and impressed. In their minds his achievement is magnified.A very early photo of RomuloTeam members of the University of the Philippines debate team, with Professor Carlos P. Romulo (center). From left Pedro Camus, Teodoro Evangelista, Deogracias Puyat, and Jacinto C. Borja. The photo was taken in San Francisco, California, Apr il 18, 1928, and the caption reads Four students of the University of the Philippines, under the leadership of Prof. Carlos P. Romulo of the College Faculty, recently arrived in the United States on a tour of the world to debate the head word of Filipino independence. The round-the-world debate on the Philippine question is academic and has nothing to do with politics.This kind of understanding(a) served him well as he began a career as a diplomat at the United Nations. Describing himself as the barefoot boy of politics, he had never before attended an inter areaal conference and was new to diplomacy. To add to this challenge, he was representing a small nation that had not yet achieved independence. (There already had been reports of Filipino delegates being ignored at international meetings.)Romulowhose lifelong dream was to help build a body such(prenominal) as the United Nationsresolved to make the Philippines the voice of all small nations. As a signatory of the charter formin g the United Nations in 1945, he utter the famous line, Let us make this floor the last battlefield at the first General Assembly. There was at first silence, but because he received a standing ovationthe only one given to any speaker at the conference.Romulo launched himself fully into the world of international diplomacy, standing his ground against the big powers and committing himself to the causes of fledging nations. Dismissed by some, like Andrei Vishinsky, chief of the Soviet delegation, as a little man from a little country, Romulo was undeterred, fighting like David, slinging pebbles of truth between theeyes of blustering Goliaths.President of the UN General Assembly Carlos P. Romulo introduces US President Harry S. Truman to Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky of the USSR, October 24, 1949, during the keister laying ceremony of the UN headquarters in New York City. President of the UN General Assembly Carlos P. Romulo introduces US President Harry S. Truman to Dep uty Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky of the USSR, October 24, 1949, during the floor laying ceremony of the UN headquarters in New York City. Dubbed by his colleagues Mr. United Nations, he was elected president of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949the first Asian to hold the positionand served as president of UN Security Council four times, in 1981, in 1980 and twice in 1957.Despite all the triumphs, Romulo hit low points in his life. His eldest son Carlos, Jr., died in a plane crash in 1957, and his beloved wife died in 1968, near the end of his terms as president of the University of the Philippines, his alma mater, and, concurrently, Secretary of Education.I had to be outstanding, he wrote, to make the greatest effort to win, to prove I was capable not in spite of having been born a Filipino but because I was a Filipino.