Editing George C. Marshall (section)

====Relief of General MacArthur====
{{main|Relief of Douglas MacArthur}}
Increasingly concerned about public statements from MacArthur, commander of [[United Nations Command]] forces fighting in the Korean War, which contradicted President Truman's on prosecution of the war, on the morning of 6 April 1951, Truman held a meeting with Marshall, [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] Omar Bradley, Secretary of State Dean Acheson and advisor [[W. Averell Harriman]] to discuss whether MacArthur should be removed from command.{{sfn|McCullough|1992b}}

Harriman was emphatically in favor of MacArthur's relief, but Bradley opposed it.{{sfn|McCullough|1992b}} Marshall asked for more time to consider the matter.{{sfn|McCullough|1992b}} Acheson was in favor but did not disclose this, instead warning Truman that if he did it, MacArthur's relief would cause "the biggest fight of your administration."{{sfn|Beisner|2009|p=429}} At another meeting the following day, Marshall and Bradley continued to oppose MacArthur's relief.{{sfn|McCullough|1992b}} On 8 April, the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with Marshall, and each expressed the view that MacArthur's relief was desirable from a "military point of view," suggesting that "if MacArthur were not relieved, a large segment of our people would charge that civil authorities no longer controlled the military."{{sfn|Cleaver|2019|pp=179}}

Marshall, Bradley, Acheson, and Harriman met with Truman again on 9 April.{{sfn|McCullough|1992b}} Bradley informed the President of the views of the Joint Chiefs, and Marshall added that he agreed with them.{{sfn|McCullough|1992b}} Truman wrote in his diary that "it is of unanimous opinion of all that MacArthur be relieved. All four so advise."{{sfn|Diary entries 6 7}} (The Joint Chiefs would later insist that they had only "concurred" with the relief, not "recommended" it.){{sfn|Pearlman|2008|p=214}}

On 11 April 1951, Truman directed transmittal of an order to MacArthur, issued over Bradley's signature, relieving MacArthur of his assignment in Korea and directing him to turn over command to [[Matthew Ridgway]].{{sfn|Willbanks|2013|p=99}} In line with Marshall's view, and those of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, MacArthur's relief was looked upon by proponents as being necessary to reassert the tenet of [[civilian control of the military]].{{sfn|McCullough|1992b}}