| Summary, Etc. |
- Summary, etc - On July 25, 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt met with his Chiefs of Staff in Honolulu to discuss the conduct of the war in the Pacific.
There were two opposing points of view under discussion. Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King, whose views at his meeting were presented by Admiral Chester Nimitz, favored hitting Formosa and by-passing the occupied Philippines. General Douglas McArthur, who had been sitting in Australia for three years, awaiting his chance to re-take the Philippnes, believed the Philippines should be attacked, and Formosa by-passed. He and Admiral William "Bull" Halsey believed the Philippines must be taken, then used as a base to launch the assault against Japan.
After Admiral Nimitz spoke for King's position, General MacArthur took the floor. MacArthur presented a far more persuasive and impressive argument for his view, than did the rather colorless Nimitz.
When the meeting adjourned, the president said merely that "he would sleep on it." But most of those present agreed that MacArthur's view had prevailed . The next day this was confirmed and MacArthur and Halsey had their go-ahead to launch an all-out attack on the Philippines.
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