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Dean Acheson
Truman's secretary of state. Acheson came under attack during McCarthyism.
Mark W. Clark
Allied commander in North Africa and Italy during World War II. General Clark was commander of UN forces in Korea from 1952 to 1953.
John Foster Dulles
Eisenhower's secretary of state. He was hawkish and highly anti-Communist.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
34rd President of the United States, who was president at the conclusion of the Korean War.
Kim Il-sung
The Communist leader of North Korea. Kim developed a massive personality cult around himself, and ruled until his death in 1994.
Douglas C. MacArthur
General who commanded the Allies in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, he oversaw the post-war occupation of Japan, and commanded the UN forces during the first phases of the Korean War. It was MacArthur who engineered the amphibious assault on Inchon. Becoming increasingly egotistical as he got older, MacArthur began countermanding Truman's orders in Korea. With the backing of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Truman relieved MacArthur of his command on April 11, 1951.
John Muccio
US ambassador to South Korea.
Syngman Rhee
"Democratically elected" leader of South Korea. Actually something of a dictator, Syngman Rhee was a committed nationalist obsessed with the idea of ruling a unified, independent Korea.
Matthew Ridgway
Commander of the Eighth Army under MacArthur, Ridgway rallied the US/UN/ROK forces and pushed the Communists back. Ridgway became Allied Commander of the Far East after MacArthur's dismissal.
Dean Rusk
John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson's secretary of state. After World War II, it was Rusk, a former Rhodes scholar, who chose the 38th Parallel as the dividing line between North and South Korea.
Peng Teh-haui
Commander of the Chinese Communist "volunteers" in Korea.
Maxwell Taylor
US General who pioneered airborne warfare during World War II. He was commander of the UN forces and the Eighth Army in Korea during the last phases of the Korean War (1953).
Harry S Truman
33rd President of the United States, who was president at the start of the Korean War and fired General Douglass MacArthur in April of 1951.
Walton Walker
Lieutenant General who had served under Patton in World War II, Walker was commander of all UN ground forces under MacArthur. In December 1950, Walker was killed in a car accident, and Ridgway took his place.
James Van Fleet
Army commander who, during World War II, led the D-Day invasion of Utah Beach. In Korea, he served as Ridgway's field commander, controlling the Eighth Army.
