When readers were asked a year ago, "Who was the most influential American in Asia in the 20th century?" the response was very lopsided.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, whose leadership was felt throughout the region but particularly in the Philippines, Japan and Korea, was the clear winner. Next were former U.S. Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.
A new book by Pennsylvania State University historian Stanley Weintraub focusing on the first 11 crucial months of the war -- "MacArthur's War: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero," (The Free Press, New York, 2000, $27.50) -- highlights MacArthur's mistakes and the flaws in the general's personality and character.