No Substitute for Victory: Lessons in Strategy and Leadership from General Douglas Macarthur

MacArthur's Return

MacArthur's high-profile role in the Pacific made him a heroic icon in the eyes of the American public, and he quickly became one of the nation's most admired leaders. He used this platform to transform the Philippines into an emotion-laden symbol for victory in the Pacific. Shortly after his arrival in Australia on March 17, 1942, he told reporters:

The President of the United States ordered me to break through the Japanese lines and proceed from Corregidor to Australia for the purpose, as I understand it, of organizing the American offensive against Japan, a primary object of which is the relief of the Philippines. I came through and I shall return.

The last phrase became one of the most famous of the war, and MacArthur ...