Reminiscences

Douglas MacArthur, Reminiscences — Signed First Edition
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964 | Cloth hardcover with original dust jacket
Signed in ink on the half-title: “Douglas MacArthur”
Collection of Stanley and Naomi Yavneh Klos

This signed first edition of Reminiscences offers General Douglas MacArthur’s official narrative of his military leadership, particularly his role as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers during the occupation of Japan following its 1945 surrender.

Within its pages, MacArthur justifies his controversial decision to exempt Emperor Hirohito from indictment during the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. He depicts the Emperor as a ceremonial figurehead—uninvolved in military decisions—and argues that preserving the imperial institution was essential to avoid civil unrest and ensure national stability during reconstruction.

“The Japanese people looked to the Emperor as the sole source of authority, and I had no doubt that if he so desired they would follow him even into revolt or suicide.”— Reminiscences, p. 302

“The Emperor, as he told me later, was prepared to take responsibility for the war if it would help his people. But I did not want him indicted.”— Reminiscences, p. 303

What is absent from the memoir is equally revealing. MacArthur omits any mention of the extensive evidence linking Hirohito to key wartime decisions—including the invasions of China and the Philippines, the abuse of prisoners of war, and the exploitation of occupied populations. Much of this evidence was withheld or downplayed by Allied authorities under MacArthur’s command to support a political strategy that prioritized stability over full accountability.

As such, Reminiscences is more than a personal reflection; it is a case study in how justice, memory, and geopolitics converged in the aftermath of the Asian Holocaust. The decision to protect the emperor would shape both Japan’s historical narrative and the limits of justice at the Tokyo Trials.