Putting Old Politicians Out to Pasture

On April 19, 1951, Gen. Douglas MacArthur delivered a farewell address to the U.S. Congress – and by proxy, to the American people – after having been relieved of his duties by President Harry Truman. Early in his speech, which was interrupted more than 50 times by rousing applause, MacArthur shared the following sentiments…

“I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country.”

MacArthur proceeded to give a summary of his long and distinguished military career along with his expert analysis of current world events and a rigorous defense of his recent actions in Korea that had led to his dismissal by President Truman.

The five-star General of the Army and former Commander-in-Chief of all U.S. military forces in the Far East then concluded his remarks with the following immortal words…

“I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that ‘old soldiers never die; they just fade away.’”

“And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”

MacArthur didn’t exactly fade away entirely, embarking on an extended public speaking tour during which he attacked President Truman for "appeasement in Asia" and for allegedly mismanaging the economy. In 1952, MacArthur hoped to be a compromise candidate at the Republican national convention if the delegates deadlocked between Ohio Gov. Robert Taft and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. However, that deadlock never happened and Eisenhower went on to capture both the nomination and the presidency.

With his military career over and his political aspirations dashed, MacArthur retired to a penthouse at the Waldorf Towers in New York City where he and his wife Jean lived until his death on April 5, 1964. In the intervening years, he served as chairman of the board of Remington Rand and as an unofficial advisor to three presidents: Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. Eisenhower sought MacArthur’s input on how to best end the Korean War and Kennedy listened to MacArthur’s wise counsel to employ a naval blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis. MacArthur also warned Kennedy against committing U.S. troops in Southeast Asia, advice that LBJ later regretted not following himself.

Since Gen. MacArthur’s death, various former presidents and retired generals have followed his example by “fading away” quietly and only resurfacing when asked to serve as a behind-the-scenes advisor in a crisis. George H.W. Bush mastered that delicate balancing act and his son, George W. Bush, has followed in his father’s footsteps, refusing (for the most part) to publicly criticize his successors.

Richard Nixon, forced to resign in disgrace amidst the Watergate scandal, was able to partially rehabilitate his public image by keeping a low profile and only emerging when asked to share his foreign policy perspective. Gerald Ford spent his post-presidential years giving speeches or playing golf while Jimmy Carter famously dedicated the four decades after he left the White House to religious and charitable work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center. Meanwhile, Ronald Reagan publicly and courageously battled Alzheimer’s disease.

Then there is Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Unlike their predecessors, they both refuse to go quietly into the night.

Seeking to emulate Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton started the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative, two public charities that have been investigated for their gross mismanagement of donors’ contributions… and the comparatively small percentage of those donations that reach program recipients such as Haiti earthquake victims.

Perhaps as payback for not walking out on him in the wake of the Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, and Monica Lewinsky sex scandals, Bill dutifully campaigned for Hillary in 2008 and 2016 and remained publicly supportive during her disastrous tenure as Secretary of State during the Obama administration. Today, Bill and Hillary are political relics from a bygone era, still giving speeches and interviews to dwindling audiences as if they had something relevant to say.

Bill looks tired and old, and Hillary looks haggard and bitter. I guess that’s what living in a sham marriage will do to you after 50 years of pretending. That… and selling your soul to pursue your political ambitions only – at least in Hillary’s case – to keep coming up short.

As for Barack Obama, no former president has cashed in on his celebrity status more than him. On the day that he and Michelle left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the Obamas’ net worth was $12.2 million. Not too shabby for a one-time community organizer from the south side of Chicago.

Today, Forbes estimates the jet-setting Obamas’ combined wealth to be in the neighborhood of $70 million. That’s a six-fold increase in just eight years.

Speaking of neighborhoods, Barack and Michelle currently own three homes: a residence in the affluent Hyde Park area of Chicago, a townhouse in the tony Georgetown section of Washington D.C., and an estate in Martha’s Vineyard that they purchased in 2019 for $11.9 million.

I guess you can afford those kinds of digs when you sign a two-book deal with Penguin Random House for $65 million and a second deal with Netflix valued in the tens of millions. And of course, if all else fails, Barack can always fall back on his speaking fees which run as high as $400,000-$700,000 every time he opens his mouth.

Poor guy… I hear the price of caviar and pate de foie gras is through the roof these days.

What a far cry from Gen. MacArthur… or for that matter, the man who fired him, Harry Truman. The Man from Independence, MO – not to be confused with the Man from Hope, AR – was virtually penniless when he entered the White House in 1945 and wasn’t much better off financially when he left it in 1953.

"The United States government turns its chief executives out to grass," Truman told CBS News anchor Edward S. Murrow in a prime-time interview in 1958. "They’re just allowed to starve.”

Not quite the whole truth, because Truman was paid more than $500,000 by Life magazine for the rights to his memoirs in 1954 (about $6 million in 2025 dollars). That being said, ol’ Harry was right when he said, “Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook.”

By that definition, the Clintons, the Obamas, and the Bidens – all Democrats – are all crooks. Now if they would just shut up and go (or fade) away.