Editing Jean MacArthur

{{Short description|Wife of Douglas MacArthur (1898–2000)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Jean MacArthur
| image       = Jean MacArthur.jpg
| caption     = MacArthur in 1950
| birth_name  = Jean Marie Faircloth 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1898|12|28}}
| birth_place = [[Nashville, Tennessee]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2000|1|22|1898|12|28}}
| death_place = [[New York, New York]], U.S.
| spouse      = {{Marriage|[[Douglas MacArthur]]|1937|1964|end=died}}
| children    = [[Arthur MacArthur IV]]
| parents              = {{indented plainlist|
*Edward Cameron Faircloth Sr.
*Sallie Dromgoole Beard Faircloth
}}
| nationality = 
| other_names = 
| occupation  = 
| known_for   = 
}}

'''Jean Marie MacArthur''' ({{née}} '''Faircloth'''; December 28, 1898&nbsp;– January 22, 2000) was the second wife of [[U.S. Army]] [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]] [[Douglas MacArthur]].

== Early life and education ==
Born Jean Marie Faircloth in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], she was the daughter of Edward C. Faircloth, a banker. After her parents divorced when she was eight, her mother took her to live with her grandparents in [[Murfreesboro, Tennessee|Murfreesboro]]. Her grandfather, a former captain in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] army, instilled in her a love of uniforms. She attended [[Ward-Belmont College]] in Nashville, but graduated from Soule College in Murfreesboro. Jean and her father can be found later listed on a passenger manifest of the {{SS|Belgenland|1914|6}}, which arrived in the [[Port of Los Angeles]] on December 29, 1927, from [[Balboa, Panama|Balboa]], [[Panama Canal Zone]]. When her father died, she inherited a large fortune and travelled extensively.{{Citation needed |date=November 2015}}

== Marriage ==
On a trip she intended to be to [[Shanghai]], in 1935, she met General MacArthur aboard the {{SS|President Hoover}}, which was to stop first in [[Manila]], where MacArthur would disembark. Despite the age difference — she was nearly nineteen years younger than he — they began a permanent relationship in Manila, and married in [[New York City]] on April 30, 1937, during Gen. MacArthur's trip home to build support for the defense of the [[Philippines]].  This was to be Gen. MacArthur's last trip to the mainland United States for the next 14 years, when he was relieved from duty by President [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]].  His only other visits to U.S. soil between 1937 and 1951 were a 1944 strategy meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii with President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] and Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz|Nimitz]] and a 1950 meeting with President Truman on [[Wake Island]].{{Citation needed |date=November 2015}}

Jean was MacArthur's second wife and he described her as his "constant friend, sweetheart, and devoted support." They had one son, [[Arthur MacArthur IV]] (1938–), and were married until Douglas' death in 1964.<ref name=NYTObit>{{Cite news|title = Jean MacArthur, General's Widow, Dies at 101|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/24/nyregion/jean-macarthur-general-s-widow-dies-at-101.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2000-01-24|access-date = 2016-01-20|issn = 0362-4331|first = Enid|last = Nemy}}</ref>

== Wartime ==
Jean MacArthur was with her husband when the Japanese attacked the [[Philippines]] and went with him to the island of [[Corregidor]] in [[Manila]]'s harbor.  Even when the island was attacked, she refused to leave her husband.  Only when President Roosevelt [[Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines|ordered the MacArthurs to leave]] they went to [[Australia]].{{Citation needed |date=November 2015}}

== Charity work ==
After her husband's death she helped with the [[Metropolitan Opera]] and other charities.  In her later years, she often gave speeches on her late husband's military career.  President [[Ronald Reagan]] awarded her the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom|Medal of Freedom]] in 1988 and the Philippine government gave her its Legion of Merit in 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-the-presidential-m/150052848/ |title=The Presidential Medal |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=37 |date=1988-10-18 |access-date=2024-06-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chronicle-tribune-philippines-gives-jean/150052338/ |title=Philippines gives Jean MacArthur medal |newspaper=[[Chronicle-Tribune]] |publication-place=Marion, Indiana |page=2 |date=1993-11-15 |access-date=2024-06-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== Death ==
Mrs. MacArthur died of natural causes in Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan at age 101.<ref name=NYTObit/> She is entombed with her husband in the rotunda of the [[MacArthur Memorial]] in [[Norfolk, Virginia]], the hometown of Gen. MacArthur's mother.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{Citation | last = Manchester | first = William | author-link = William Manchester | title = [[American Caesar]]}}.

{{Douglas MacArthur}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, Jean}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:People from Manhattan]]
[[Category:MacArthur family|Jean]]
[[Category:Ward–Belmont College alumni]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:American women centenarians]]