14. Douglas MacArthur Wanted to Drop 50 Nukes on China
Douglas MacArthur’s successful Inchon landings in September, 1950, led to the collapse of the North Korean invasion during the Korean War. MacArthur then vigorously pursued the routed enemy up the Korean Peninsula, and blithely dismissed warnings that China would intervene if his forces approached the Sino-Korean border, insisting that the Chinese would do nothing. MacArthur was wrong. Soon after reaching the Chinese border, the Chinese struck, caught MacArthur’s forces by surprise, and chased them back down the Korean Peninsula.
The humiliated MacArthur reacted with histrionics, and insisted that up to 50 atomic bombs be dropped on China. His plan was to nuke Chinese cities in Manchuria, military concentrations, and communication centers, and create a radioactive belt stretching from the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan, to seal off the Korean Peninsula from China. Fortunately, president Truman balked, and declined to accept the general’s assurances that the Soviets would do nothing if America dropped dozens of nukes on their Chinese ally. When MacArthur bucked and defied Truman, the president fired him.
