“To get right to the heart of this,” the President said. “When Admiral Hillenkoetter first brought your name up, General, he said that you had first gone to the Pacific as the private eyes of Navy Secretary Knox, and that that had evolved into your being the private eyes of President Roosevelt. ”
“Yes, sir, that accurately describes what happened.”
“I found that fascinating,” Truman said. “Although I didn’t say anything to the admiral.”
“Sir?”
“Until that moment, I thought I had the bright idea all on my own,” Truman said. “That if you really want to know what’s going on around the military, send someone who considers his primary loyalty is to the President, not the military establishment. General Howe and I go back to France—we were both captains in France. Then we saw one another over the years in the National Guard. In War Two, when I was in the Senate, he went back into the Army, and rose to major general. When this Korean thing broke, he was about the first person I knew I was going to need, and I called him to active duty—to be my eyes in this war.”
“I see,” Pickering said.
“And when he came down from Maine, I told him about you, about Captain McCoy’s assessment, and the trouble he had with it, and we are agreed that your talents in this sort of thing should not be allowed to lay fallow.”
“You can do one thing I can’t, General,” Howe said. “You can talk to MacArthur, maybe even ask him questions no one else would dare ask him.”
“Wow!” Pickering said, as Fowler handed him a drink.
“Would you be willing to take on such an assignment?”
“Sir, I’m at your orders,” Pickering said.
“Take a look at this,” the President said, handing Pickering a squarish envelope. “And tell me if it’s all right.”
THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON, D. C.
JULY 1, 1950
GENERAL OF THE ARMY DOUGLAS MACARTHUR THE DAI ICHI BUILDING TOKYO, JAPAN
BY OFFICER COURIER
DEAR GENERAL MACARTHUR:
THERE IS ONE SMALL PIECE OF GOOD NEWS IN WHAT FRANKLY LOOKS TO ME LIKE A DARK SITUATION, AND WHICH I WANTED TO GET IN YOUR HANDS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
ADMIRAL HILLENKOETTER, THE DIRECTOR OF THE CIA, HAS ASKED ME TO RECALL TO ACTIVE DUTY YOUR FRIEND BRIGADIER GENERAL FLEMING PICKERING, USMCR, AND I HAVE DONE SO. AT ADMIRAL HILLENKOETTER’ S RECOMMENDATION, I HAVE NAMED GENERAL PICKERING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE CIA FOR ASIA, A POSITION MUCH LIKE THE ONE HE HELD DURING WORLD WAR II, WHERE HE WAS SO VALUABLE TO YOURSELF, OSS DIRECTOR DONOVAN, AND PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT.
HE WILL BE COMING TO THE FAR EAST IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE, AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT HE ENJOYS MY EVERY CONFIDENCE AND THAT YOU MAY FEEL FREE TO SAY ANYTHING TO HIM THAT YOU WOULD SAY TO ME.
SINCERELY,
Harry S. Truman
HARRY S. TRUMAN
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES
Pickering raised his eyes from the letter to the President.
“Is that about the way President Roosevelt handled it?” Truman asked.
“He referred to the general as ‘my dear Douglas,’ ” Pickering said.
“He knew MacArthur,” Truman said. “I don’t. And I don’t think I want to know the sonofabitch.”
“Harry!” General Howe cautioned.
“He’s an officer in the U.S. Army,” Truman said. “Not the Viceroy of Japan, but I don’t think he knows that, and if he does, he doesn’t want to admit it. And I want you to know how I feel about him, General.”
“I understand, sir.”
“How do you feel about him?” Truman asked.
“He’s a brilliant man—possibly, probably, the best general of our era, Mr. President.”
“Better than Eisenhower? Bradley?”
“I never had the opportunity to watch General Eisenhower at work, Mr. President. But I have watched General MacArthur. The word ‘genius’ is not out of place. But he sometimes manifests traits of character that are disturbing to me personally. He can be petty, for example.”
“For example?”
“Every unit on Corregidor but the 4th Marines was given the Presidential Unit Citation. General MacArthur said the Marines had enough medals.”
“That’s all?”
“His blind loyalty to the Bataan Gang disturbs me, Mr. President.”
“That’s why you didn’t take McCoy’s assessment to him?”
“I think his support of General Willoughby would have been irrational, and that very likely would have caused McCoy more trouble than he was already in, Mr. President. ”