It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Fifteen

"Conservatism Consolidates Power-Reagan Runs Again"

As the economy gradually improved, foreign policy challenges remained for the U.S. and the world, including in the ever volatile Middle East. Lebanon was in a state of civil war, and the U.S. sent military personnel, mainly Marines, as part of an international force to guarantee the withdrawal of opposing forces there, including Israeli military units, and to provide security for Lebanon to stabilize.* Not long thereafter, there was a suicide bombing of the American embassy in Beirut which killed more than 60 Americans. This was followed a few months later by another suicide attack on a barracks in Beirut housing American military personnel, primarily Marines, which resulted in the death of nearly 250 Americans, most of them U.S. Marines. A few months later, Reagan authorized the withdrawal of American forces from Lebanon. Also shortly after the barracks bombing came an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kuwait and about a year later came another attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut, which had been moved to another part of the city after the first bombing.

In a period of about two and one half years, the Soviet Union had FOUR different leaders. Always secretive and insecure, the Soviets were terrified of telling the truth to their people, and when their leaders did not appear in public for a lengthy period, Soviet propaganda, ah, I mean "news," would announce that the particular leader "has a cold." It fooled few in free nations (in fact it became something of a joke), and probably few Soviet citizens, as three leaders died during that time span, finally bringing Mikhail Gorbachev to power. In the midst of these changes in Soviet leaders came news that a Korean passenger plane had been shot down by Soviet aircraft, after straying into Soviet airspace, resulting in more than 200 deaths (most of them South Koreans, but Americans and other nationalities were also killed). Reagan stopped Soviet flights to the U.S. and halted some negotiations with the Soviets in retaliation. The Soviets "claimed" the plane was spying on the Soviet Union,** a story that didn't play well in the international community. The incident only served to play to one of Reagan's strengths, his anti-communism and his ability to lambaste the Soviets, which became increasingly popular in the U.S. and other democratic nations.

By 1984 Reagan was up for reelection, although he was 73 years old. The age issue remained with him, as it had when he ran in 1980. As noted in an earlier segment, Reagan loved to joke, including about himself, and he even could laugh at jokes by others about him. Just prior to his inauguration, impressionist and comedian Rich Little had perfected Reagan's voice and mannerisms. With Reagan in the audience, Little told a joke, the gist of which, I have never forgotten. The basic joke was that a reporter (imitated by Little) asked Reagan at a news conference what he planned to do about the energy crisis. In response, (imitating Reagan) he said something like, "We are going to go to the sun to tap the energy there. Now I know you may think this is strange, because we'll get burned up before we get there, but we won't, because we're going to go at night." Cameras showed Reagan laughing as hard as the audience. This was one of Reagan's strengths, the ability to laugh, even at his own expense. I can't emphasize enough, Americans generally liked this, and being liked as president is critical in tough times, and it undoubtedly, in my opinion, allowed Reagan to remain in office, even though the public did not necessarily agree with many of his policies. This earned him the title of the "Teflon president," by some; that is, political problems didn't stick to him.

In the first debate in 1984 against Democratic opponent, former Vice President Walter Mondale, Reagan was not in top shape, and this brought renewed concern about his age. More on his toes in the second debate, Reagan cracked that he was not going to exploit Mondale's "youth and inexperience" (he was 17 years younger than Reagan) against him in the campaign. Even Mondale laughed, and the issue of Reagan's age died down. On election day, Reagan won a resounding victory, carrying all but Mondale's home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia, as well as nearly 59% of the popular vote (Mondale received less than 41%).*** Like him, not like him, agree with him, or not agree with him, Americans took a strong liking to Reagan and felt he was "in charge;" thus they entrusted him with another four years.

* The situation in Lebanon was highly complex and far beyond the boundaries of this article, but it involved religious elements in Lebanon, where there was a mixture of Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, plus elements of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (also known as the "PLO"), and substantial influence by Syria and by Iran, which was a theocracy (a system of rule by those believed to be divinely guided). Israel intervened in Lebanon with military forces about a year before U.S. military involvement.

** This is another complicated story beyond the boundaries of this article, but there have been theories that the plane may have had the additional mission of gathering information (spying) on the Soviets. Since the Soviets withheld much evidence for so long, including items recovered from the aircraft, their credibility for supporting evidence was highly suspect. 

*** The 1984 election saw Walter Mondale choose Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his vice presidential running mate. This was the first time a major party had a woman on the ticket, but it didn't help much, as women voted heavily for Reagan, although less so than men.

WORD HISTORY:
Stair(s)-Often used in the plural, this word goes back to Indo European "steygh," which had the notion of "step, stride (which also produced the sense 'march'), and ascend." This gave Old Germanic the noun "staigriz," which placed more emphasis on the "ascend" meaning, as it meant "elevated platform;" thus several "elevated platforms" became "stairs, staircase, stairway." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "staeger," with the meaning "staircase" or just one "step" of such a staircase. This later became "stayer," "steir," or "steyer" (all such forms were used), as the "g" sound transitioned to a "y" or "i" sound, which then produced the modern version. Common in the other Germanic languages: German uses three forms: "Stiege" (pronounced as if "steeg-eh), "staircase," "Steig" (pronounced as if "styke"), "path on a hill or mountain," and "Steige" (pronounced as if "sty-geh"), "steps, stairs;" Low German Saxon has "Stieg" meaning "path;" Dutch has "steiger," "landing platform, pier;" Danish and Norwegian have "sti," meaning "path, trail;" and Swedish has "stig," meaning "path." I did not find forms in modern Frisian or Icelandic, although West Frisian has the verb form "stige," meaning "to climb, to ascend."

Allied Commanders of World War Two/MacArthur, Final

"Douglas MacArthur" Part 5/Final

One of MacArthur's controversial actions while ruling Japan was his announcement that Emperor Hirohito and his family would not be tried for any war crimes. Further, the general did not require the emperor to step down and Hirohito remained as the constitutional monarch of Japan until early 1989, when he died at the age of 87.

In mid 1950, Communist North Korea invaded South Korea.* Through the United Nations, the American military named MacArthur to lead all United Nations forces to oppose the North Koreans. At first the UN forces (heavily American and South Korean) fell back as the North Koreans pushed forward, but within about six weeks, the situation had stabilized, although with North Korean forces deep inside South Korea (they captured the capitol Seoul). MacArthur launched a bold surprise landing behind North Korean lines, and the enemy forces fled northward for the border. As UN forces approached the border, President Truman gave the go ahead to cross into North Korea. The fear was that China, or perhaps even the Soviet Union, would come to the aid of North Korea, but MacArthur and his advisers thought otherwise, and the general assured Truman of such.** Little did MacArthur know that substantial Chinese forces were infiltrating across the Chinese/North Korean border by night. A major Chinese offensive was launched, and all hell broke loose as the UN forces fell back and MacArthur, who had recently painted a highly optimistic picture of the war nearly being over to President Truman, was now on the hot seat. Once again the situation stabilized and MacArthur launched an attack of his own, which succeeded in recapturing Seoul. President Truman wanted the war to be limited and some negotiated peace settlement to be concluded. MacArthur wanted the Chinese to admit defeat, no matter what it took to do so. This contradicted the President's policy.

The issue of MacArthur and Truman is highly controversial,*** with strong proponents for each side. The President's view was that he was trying to avoid another world war, when the world had not yet recovered from the previous one. And of course matters were complicated by the availability of nuclear weapons. There were other hot spots in the world, like the developing situation in Vietnam, which would later lead to American involvement there, and of course, the situation in Europe, with Communist-dominated eastern Europe versus the central and western European nations, along with the United States. MacArthur, ever the military strategist, saw a military threat and wanted to crush it, even at the risk of a larger war. Republicans in Congress let it be known that MacArthur was dissatisfied with Truman's policy, and they liked to quote from MacArthur's letter on the Korean situation, "There can be no substitute for victory."****

Truman issued an order that military personnel were to have all public statements about policy "cleared" before they were issued, but MacArthur issued a public offer for a ceasefire. Truman was furious and this ultimately led to his relieving General MacArthur of his command. Back in the United States, a firestorm erupted as some Republicans wanted Truman impeached and removed form office. Some Republicans even believed Truman relieved MacArthur under pressure from "socialists" in foreign governments, especially Britain. MacArthur returned to the United States to a hero's welcome. He spoke to a joint session of Congress where he not only repeated his "no substitute for victory" line, but uttered another line destined for the history books, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." MacArthur retired to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. He died in 1964 at the age of 84. I remember his death and the public funeral thereafter, as it was carried television.

Note: I used the following book for some information for this series on General MacArthur:
"American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964," by William Manchester, published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1978.

* Korea had been controlled by Japan since the early 1900s. With the defeat of Japan in World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union divided occupation of the country until free elections could be held. The Soviets did not adhere to the agreement and instead established a Communist government in the Soviet-controlled part, while a "western" oriented government was established in the American-controlled part. Both parts supported the notion that there was only one Korea, but each claimed to be the legitimate government of the whole.

** The Soviet Union supplied weapons to all Communist countries in those times. The presence of Chinese troops in North Korea came to be known, but intelligence estimates put the number FAR below the actual number. One of the issues between Truman and MacArthur developed from the general's assurance to the President that China would not substantially intervene in Korea, and that the war was nearly over (this was in October 1950). He even told Truman that many troops would soon be headed for Japan, and that some would even be available for use in Europe, then another hot spot.

*** This is very brief and the actual matters and actions were far more involved. There are many good sources for those interested in more detailed information. Please check your local library.

**** MacArthur had sent a letter to Republican congressional leaders with this now famous saying in it.

WORD HISTORY:
Hero/Heroine-These words have an unclear ancient history, although many etymologists seem to believe "hero" goes back to the Indo European root "ser," which meant "protect;" thus, if correct, a "hero" was literally "a protector." To be quite honest, I'm not totally sold. Greek had "heros" (this is the singular form, although the "s" makes it appear as a plural to English speakers), which meant a "semi divine man/warrior." Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "heros," and English then borrowed it from Latin circa 1390, although it wasn't until the mid 1600s that it took on the modern meaning of "a man who displays extraordinary courage and daring." "Heroine," comes from the feminine form of Greek "heros," which was "heroine," which was borrowed into Latin and then into English in the mid 1600s.
Note: "Hero" overtook the original English word for such, "haeleth," which came from Old Germanic "halithaz," and which also gave Old High German and Old Saxon "helid" (now modern "Held"), Old Dutch "helit" (modern "held"), Old Frisian "heleth" (modern "held"), and is the source of modern Norwegian and Danish "helt" and of Swedish "hjälte." Icelandic has "hetja," presumably from the same source, but without the "l' sound. So, if English hadn't borrowed "hero," we likely would say something very much like "held/helt."