[2] After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, Arthur, his mother and his nanny were forced to relocate from the Manila Hotel as bombs fell nearby.

[2]: 223  They first joined Arthur's father on Corregidor Island and then were evacuated by PT boat and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber to Brisbane, Australia.

[7][8] After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the family moved to Tokyo, from where the United Press agency reported in 1946 that eight-year-old Arthur MacArthur was considered a "musical prodigy".

[13][14][15] While newspapers' political correspondents focused on Douglas MacArthur's testimony before the Senate in Washington in May 1951, the general press sought out human interest stories connected to Arthur, his mother and his Chinese nanny, Ah Cheu.

[16] The New York Times ran a front-page story covering young MacArthur's first visit to a Major League Baseball game, as "guest of Horace Stoneham, owner of the Giants.

[18] The article was subheadlined "Two Notables Meet At The Garden" above the photo caption "The 13-year-old son of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Felix Adler, King of the clowns."

In May 1951 the United Press syndicate ran a story reporting that young MacArthur was to receive a "100-year old peace pipe as a gift" from the people of Havre, Montana.

[26] The New York Times pointed out that MacArthur's parents sat in the box of the president of the university, Grayson L. Kirk, with the General in full dress uniform.

The United Press agency reported following his father's funeral in 1964 that, since graduating, "the tall handsome young man ... has made few public appearances.

"[23] The Associated Press reported the same year that "MacArthur's Son Shuns Military Life" but pointed out that "his childhood had been filled with war.

[33] Michael Gross's 2014 book, House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World's Most Powerful Address, also devoted a page to the mystery of MacArthur's life and assumed name.

[28] In 2024, upon the occasion of his father being awarded the Order of Military Merit (First Class) by the Republic of Korea, Arthur MacArthur issued his first public statement in at least six decades.