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| Secretary of War Newton Baker & Captain Douglas MacArthur |
By Brigadier General John S.D. Eisenhower
Command of the American Expeditionary Force was one of the most important decisions that Secretary of War Newton Baker and President Wilson would ever make, as the officer selected would have to be capable of carrying tremendous responsibility on his own. Secretary Baker could not look over the shoulder of the man sent to command in Europe.
Pershing, who had recently commanded the Punitive Expedition into Mexico, had not always been Baker's first choice. In early 1917 the most prestigious field officer in the United States Army was Major General Frederick Funston, commanding the Southern Department at San Antonio, Texas. A Medal of Honor recipient and seventeen years a general officer, Funston was expected to lead any force the United States would put into the field. It was not to be. The command picture changed drastically during the evening of 19 February 1917. Army duty officers Brigadier General Peyton March and Major Douglas MacArthur received a message disclosing that General Funston had died of a massive heart attack that evening while dining out at a local hotel in San Antonio. MacArthur, the junior of the pair, was detailed to deliver the message to Secretary of War Baker who was with the President at a dinner party.
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| MacArthur with His Staff During the St. Mihiel Offensive |
Wilson and Baker, though somewhat shaken, took the news in stride. As MacArthur waited for instructions, they beckoned for him to follow as they went into an adjacent room. First the President dictated a message of sympathy to Mrs. Funston. Then turning to Baker, he asked, ''What now, Newton, who will take the Army over [there]?'
Baker, perhaps stalling for time, turned to MacArthur, "Whom do you think the Army would choose, Major?" ''I cannot, of course, speak for the Army, but for myself the choice would unquestionably be General Pershing."
Wilson looked at the young officer for a long moment. Then he said quietly, "It would be a good choice."
Wilson's reaction was widely shared, and almost certainly would have been reached without MacArthur's contribution. Even though Funston had been Pershing's superior, Pershing might have been selected in any case, for Baker and Scott had come to realize that Pershing possessed certain qualities that Funston lacked. The most obvious of these was an ability to deal with people who held opposing views. Pershing was no diplomat, but compared to the impetuous Funston, he was a model of self-restraint. With Funston out of contention, the choice would be even easier.
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| General Pershing Decorates Bg. Gen. MacArthur for His War Service |
Foremost among Pershing's remaining competitors was Major General Leonard Wood, the Army chief of staff between 1910 and 1914. In that position, Wood had been highly effective. But despite his stellar performance, Wood had shortcomings, one of which was a genius for stirring up controversy. He advocated military preparedness so blatantly that the Wilson administration-always determined to avoid saber-rattling-had become alarmed. . .When he provided a rostrum from which Roosevelt attacked the Wilson administration on the preparedness issue, Secretary Baker transferred him to command the Southeastern Department, with headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina.
(Editor's Comment: From the moment in 1903 in San Francisco that Lt. Douglas MacArthur and Captain John J. Pershing were introduced, the two men had a friendly/hostile, hot/cold, friendship/rivalry. It lasted right up to Pershing's death in 1948. I might write an article about it for Roads some day. It's probably worth a book, though. MH)
From Yanks by Bg. General John S.D. Eisenhower
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