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Bernard KI Duffy and Ronald H. Carpenter. Douglas MacArthur: Warrior as Wordsmith. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Great American Orators Series, number 24, $69.50.
Nearly fifty years after his distinguished military career ended, Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his prophecy, becoming the old solider who simply faded away from the public mind. Although MacArthur did not give many public speeches, his rhetorical legacy includes such momentous phrases as, "I shall return" ( 1941 ); "old soldiers never die, they just fade away" (1951); and "duty, honor, country" (1962). For many Americans however these phrases are simply lines, lacking any sense of their original context and ultimate impact. As a result, Douglas MacArthur's status in the canon of:American public address has dimmed in recent years. Fortunately for students of rhetorical history, especially those interested in post-World War II discourse, Bernard K. Duffy' and Ronald H. Carpenter have written a thorough and insightful book that explores the "warrior as wordsmith" and explains how Mac Arthur utilized oratory in his quest for greatness.
For contemporary Americans, the conception of the soldier-politician is an anachronism. Excluding Dwight Eisenhower (and possibly Colin Powell), the idea of a military general running for national office seems wedded to a previous century, when great generals such as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Ulysses Grant were elected to the presidency (and generals Winfield Scott, George McClellan, and John Fremont were unsuccessful national candidates for the presidency).
Duf' and Carpenter's contribution to American rhetorical history...