could be trusted to place the country’s interest above partisan politics, and Dick headed that list.”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Fowler said.
“They were most often wrong about things,” Truman said with a smile, “but they could be trusted.”
Fowler smiled at him.
“Will you have some coffee, General?” Truman asked. “And please sit down.”
Truman pointed to the couch on which he was sitting, poured Pickering a cup of coffee, then slid to the far end of the couch and turned so that he was facing Pickering. He waited until Pickering had picked up his cup before continuing.
“Ralph Howe has told me of MacArthur’s intention to move the X Corps around the Korean Peninsula and land it somewhere around Wonsan,” he said.
Pickering understood it was a question.
“Yes, sir. I know. General Howe sent me a copy of his message to you. I got it in California.”
“And?” Truman asked.
“Mr. President, I’m not qualified to question General MacArthur’s strategy,” Pickering said.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Truman said. “What do you think?”
“Mr. President, there were a lot of people who thought that the Inchon Landing was a very bad idea. And from what I’ve learned, putting X Corps ashore at Wonsan will be a good deal easier than the Inchon operation.”
“No Flying Fish Islands to deal with?” Truman asked.
How the hell did he hear about that?
“No, sir.”
“You’re aware that General Marshall has become Secretary of Defense?”
“Yes, sir.”
“General Marshall tells me that MacArthur staged a clandestine operation under General Willoughby to take those islands just before the invasion.”
Pickering didn’t reply.
“Apparently, General Willoughby sent an officer to brief General Marshall on how the Inchon Landing was planned and carried out,” Truman said.
“Yes, sir.”
“And General Marshall told me,” Truman said.
Pickering didn’t reply.
“I was a little surprised to hear the story,” Truman said. “I hadn’t heard it from the CIA—Admiral Hillencoetter— at all, and the story I got from Ralph Howe was that it was your clandestine operation, and that not even General MacArthur knew about it until it was a done deed.”
Pickering didn’t reply.
“I’d like an explanation, if you don’t mind, General,” Truman said.
“Mr. President, I accept responsibility for what happened, ” Pickering said.
“Why did you feel it was necessary to keep the Supreme Commander in the dark?” Truman said.
“Sir, I was at the Dai Ichi Building meetings at which the landing was discussed. Very senior members of the planning staff raised the question of the Flying Fish Channel Islands, and when was the best time to neutralize them. It was General MacArthur’s decision that they be neutralized as the invasion fleet steamed down the channel. I thought—”
" ’MacArthur is wrong. Those islands have to be neutralized earlier, and I can do it’?” Truman asked.
“I didn’t think I would have much chance of getting General MacArthur to reverse his position, as doing so would fly in the face of the recommendations of his staff officers.”
“So you took it upon yourself to stage this clandestine operation, without telling either General MacArthur or seeking permission from Admiral Hillencoetter to take an action known to be contrary to the wishes of General MacArthur?”
“Sir, if my operation failed, the original plan to neutralize the islands would have taken place.”
“So you took it upon yourself to stage this clandestine operation, without telling either General MacArthur or seeking permission from Admiral Hillencoetter to take an action known to be contrary to the wishes of General MacArthur?” Truman asked verbatim again.
“Yes, sir. That’s what I did.”
“I think some people would describe that behavior as . . . the phrase ‘loose cannon’ comes to mind.”
Pickering didn’t respond.
Senator Fowler shook his head in disbelief, or perhaps resignation, at what Truman had revealed.
“I’m not one of those people,” Truman said. “Sometimes you have to do what you know is right, regardless of the consequences.”
He let that sink in.
“And what did the Supreme Commander have to say to you when he found out what you had done?”
Pickering, without realizing what he was doing, smiled at the memory.
“Why are you smiling, General?”
“Sir . . . When I told General MacArthur, he announced to his staff that it was his clandestine operation.”
Truman smiled back.
“ ‘Victory has a thousand fathers’? Something like that? He wasn’t angry with you?”
“If he was, it didn’t show, Mr. President.”
“Ralph tells me that, too,” Truman said. “That MacArthur seems genuinely fond of you.”
Pickering didn’t reply.
“That was really a question, General,” Truman said.
“I’m not sure if ‘fond’ is the right word, Mr. President,” Pickering replied. “I admire him—”
“Warts and all?” Truman interrupted.
“The latter overwhelm the former, Mr. President. I