MacArthur and West Point: How the General and the Academy Shaped Each Other (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series)

Few figures loom larger in the story of the United States Military Academy at West Point—or in US military history in general—than Douglas MacArthur. In this wide-ranging book, acclaimed military historian Sherman L. Fleek explores the mutual influence between the United States Military Academy and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. More than a simple narration of MacArthur’s time at the academy—both as a cadet and as superintendent—this book examines how MacArthur and the institution that he regarded as a second home shaped each of them, along with the subsequent impacts both entities had on history and the conduct of the US military.

Perhaps the preeminent figure among the handful of those who have guided and changed the direction of the academy at West Point and the “long gray line” of those who have passed through its halls, MacArthur frequently referred to the institution in letters, speeches, official documents, and personal contacts throughout his lifetime. Although MacArthur was only in residence at the military academy for seven years, in many ways he has never been absent from West Point, nor was the academy ever absent from the man.

In MacArthur and West Point, Fleek offers readers a new perspective on the truly reciprocal nature of the longstanding relationship between one of the US military’s most significant historical figures and one of its most venerated institutions.

SHERMAN L. FLEEK, a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Army, recently retired as command historian and instructor of military history at the US Military Academy at West Point. He is the author of History May Be Searched in Vain: A Military History of the Mormon Battalion and Place the Headstones Where They Belong: Thomas Neibaur, World War I Soldier.