HISORY IN A NUTSHELL~MAY 3

 

 

 

Yes, May 3rd is my Birthday and I had many Birthday cards and PSP gifts : )  Thank you all so much from my heart!  The Eat Fest started with a breakfast of Blueberry pancakes and ended with a Chinese Buffet.  I ate until the wrinkles fell out!  My Birthday "DAY" is not quite over as Sandy & I are going for pedicures in the morning.    Will write all about the DAY later.

Love to you all~You are a Fantastic Bunch!

 

    1951  Congressional Hearings On General MacArthur

The Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, meeting in closed session, begin their hearings into the dismissal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur by President Harry S. Truman. The hearings served as a sounding board for MacArthur and his extremist views on how the Cold War should be fought.

General MacArthur served as commander of U.S. forces during the Korean War until 1951. In late 1950 he made a serious strategic blunder when he dismissed warnings that the People's Republic of China would enter the conflict on the side of its communist ally, North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops smashed into the American lines in November 1950, driving the U.S. troops back with heavy losses. MacArthur, who had earlier complained about President Truman's handling of the war, now went on an all-out public relations attack against the president and his Cold War policies. In numerous public statements and interviews, General MacArthur criticized Truman's timidity. He also asked for permission to carry out bombing attacks against China and to expand the war. President Truman flatly refused, believing that expanding the war would lead to a possible confrontation with the Soviet Union and World War III. On April 11, 1951, President Trumanremoved MacArthur from his command. Though Truman clearly did not appreciate MacArthur's approach, the American public liked his tough stance on communism, and he returned home to a hero's welcome.

On May 3, 1951, just a few days after MacArthur's return to the United States, the Senate Armed Forces and Foreign Relations Committees began hearings into his dismissal. Partisan politics played a significant role in the hearings, which were instigated by Republican senators eager to discredit the Democratic administration of Harry Truman. MacArthur was the featured witness, and he spoke for more than six hours at the opening session of the hearings. He condemned Truman's Cold War foreign policy, arguing that if the president's "inhibitions" about the war in Korea had been removed the conflict could have been "wound up" without a "very great additional complement of ground troops." He went on to suggest that only through a strategy of complete military destruction of the communist empire could the U.S. hope to win the Cold War. The hearings ended after seven weeks, with no definite conclusions reached about MacArthur's dismissal. However, the general's extremist stance and intemperate statements concerning the need for an expanded conflict against communism during the hearings soon eroded his popularity with the American public. MacArthur attempted to garner the Republican presidential nomination in 1952, but lost to the more moderate campaign of another famed military leader, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

 

     OTHER MAY 3rd BIRTHDAYS

1919  Pete Seeger Folk Singer: groups: Almanac Singers, Weavers; solo: Little Boxes; songwriter: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, Turn, Turn, Turn, co-wrote: If I Had a Hammer; social, civil and political activist

1921  Sugar Ray Robinson  International Boxing Hall of Fame Middleweight Champ: only boxer to win world title at one weight five times; died Apr 12, 1989

1933  James Brown  The Godfather of Soul: Singer: Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Please, Please, Please, I Got You (I Feel Good), It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World, Living in America; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer [1986]; died Dec 25, 2006  

*YES~I Feeeel Gooood!

1937  Frankie Valli (Francis Castellucio)  Falsetto Singer: group: The Four Seasons: Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Rag Doll, Let’s Hang On; solo: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, My Eyes Adored You, Swearin’ to God, December ’63 [Oh What a Night], Grease

1947  Doug Henning  Magician/Illusionist: The World of Magic [TV], The Magic Show [Broadway rock musical]; died Feb 7, 2000

1953  Bruce Hall  Musician: bass: group: REO Speedwagon: Keep on Loving You, Take It on the Run, Keep the Fire Burnin’, Can’t Fight This Feeling

1959  Dave Ball  Musician: keyboards: group: Soft Cell: Tainted Love, Bed Sitter, Torch, What