He became the military Governor-General of the American-occupied Philippines in 1900; his term ended a year later due to clashes with the civilian governor, future-U.S. President William Howard Taft.

His son, Douglas MacArthur, was one of only five men promoted to the five-star rank of General of the Army during World War II.

[6] On August 4, 1862, his father secured a commission for him as a first lieutenant and appointed as adjutant of the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, seeing action at Chickamauga, Stones River, Chattanooga, the Atlanta Campaign and Franklin.

He was appointed as commanding general of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Eighth Army Corps and led it to victory at the Battle of Manila on August 12, 1898.

When the American occupation of the Philippines turned from conventional battles to guerrilla warfare, MacArthur commanded the Department of Northern Luzon.

During the war, President William McKinley relieved Major General Elwell S. Otis of command and replaced him with MacArthur giving him the title of Military Governor of the Philippines on May 6, 1900.

[10] However, William Howard Taft was appointed to head the Philippine Commission by McKinley and arrived to Manila in June 1900 to effect the transition from military to civil government.

[11] Both Taft and MacArthur, in separate correspondences, informed Secretary of War, Elihu Root, of the contention between each other and their differing views on the future of the Philippines.

[13] On June 21, 1901, Root's War Department informed MacArthur that Chaffee was to replace him as military head in the Philippines with the change to take place on July 4, 1901.

[15] In the several years that followed, he was assigned to serve at various times as commander of the Department of the Colorado, the Lakes, the East, and eventually the Pacific Division.

[16] Chafing at the bit at his headquarters in Fort Mason, San Francisco, MacArthur requested that he also be assigned as a military observer upon hearing of the outbreak of war between Russia and Japan in 1904.

[16] He finally secured the appointment, but arrived in Manchuria in mid-March, 1905, just after the major fighting had ended with the Japanese triumph at the Battle of Mukden.

[20] In early 1907, MacArthur, after 47 years of devoted and distinguished service, was told by Taft's War Department that he had been passed over for chief of staff of the Army.

MacArthur was elected a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) in 1868 and was assigned insignia number 648.

[22] Together, they had three children:[5] On September 5, 1912, while addressing a reunion of the 24th Wisconsin veterans in Milwaukee, MacArthur was suddenly and fatally stricken by an apoplectic attack (now known as a stroke).

[21][26] As MacArthur recounted "one of the most remarkable scouting expeditions of the war", he told his men, "Your indomitable courage...", then halted his speech with the words, "Comrades, I am too weak to go on".

[21] Dr. William J. Cronyn, the Surgeon-General of the Grand Army of the Republic for the State of New York, and a veteran of the Civil War in the 30th Michigan, was also present and called Mrs. MacArthur but was unable to tell her of the General's death over the phone.

Rank and Organization: Citation:Seized the colors of his regiment at a critical moment and planted them on the captured works on the crest of Missionary Ridge.

The actor Tom Palmer (1912–1997) played Arthur MacArthur Jr. in the 1959 episode, "The Little Trooper", of the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.

Child actor Bryan Russell (1952–2016) played Arthur's four-year-old son, Douglas, the subject of the title of the episode, set at Fort Selden in the New Mexico Territory.