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1 University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Honors Theses Student Research Spring The "Inevitable" recall : a historical, psychological and conflict management style assessment of the leader-follower relationship between Harry S. Truman and General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War Nicole G. Centanni Follow this and additional works at: Recommended Citation Centanni, Nicole G., "The "Inevitable" recall : a historical, psychological and conflict management style assessment of the leaderfollower relationship between Harry S. Truman and General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War" (1998). Honors Theses. Paper 747. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact scholarshiprepository@richmond.edu.

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5 Introduction: The historical account of the Korean War seives as an excellent resource for a case study surrounding the dynamic complexities involved in the relationship amongst civilian and military leaders. Additionally, it seives as a prime example of the importance of developing effective leader-follower relations during a crisis situation. Not only is an overall understanding of the historical record of the Korean War imperative to developing a working knowledge on such gripping issues, but also in addition, it is helpful to understand the ~otivations, needs, and goals of the principal actors involved in the context. The story of the Korean War illustrates the dynamic relat\onship that existed between civilian leader President Hany Truman, and military leader, General Douglas MacArthur. This relationship was one marked with such overwhelming disagreements in policy, approach, and values that" it ultimately ceased with Truman's official dismissal of MacArthur from the position of the United States and United Nations Chief Military Commander. From a leadership perspective the dysfunctional relationship between President Truman and General MacArthur throughout the Korean conflict seives as an explicit reminder of the importance in developing functional leader-follower relations in any given context. Based on a general historical account of the Korean War up to the point of MacArthur's dismissal, this research will attempt to provide an understanding of the dysfunctional professional and personal relationships that existed between the President and the General. The focus of this research will begin by outlining all pertinent historical facts relating to the developing conflict between Truman and MacArthur during the Korean War. The historical account will examine those critical events in between the United States' official involvement in Korea and MacArthur's dismissal that exemplify the strained relationship between the primary actors. This fundamental 1

6 understanding of their differing political and military objectives will support the assertion that Truman and MacArthur had a dysfunctional leader-follower relationship. Next, this research will reveal unique insight into both men's personality styles so as to depict their distinct psychological traits and behaviors. From these assessments, it will become evident that the conflict between Truman and MacArthur was not only based on the historical findings of opposing military and political objectives, but that it was also deeply rooted in their differing personality attributes. Finally, building upon the historical and psychological variables, a close examination of Truman and MacArthur's preferred conflict management styles will be employed in order to determine in what manner and how effectively each individual managed conflict. Taken together, the historical, psychological and conflict management variables will suggest the "inevitability" of the emergence of conflict between Truman and MacArthur during the Korean War. Therefore, the fundamental proposition this research will explore is as follows: President Harry Truman's official dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War was inevitable because of the fundamental differences in their policy objectives, personality behaviors, and preferred conflict management styles. 2

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