Jean Marie MacArthur ( Faircloth; December 28, 1898 – January 22, 2000) was the second wife of

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Early life and education

Born Jean Marie Faircloth in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, 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. Her grandfather, a former captain in the 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 , which arrived in the Port of Los Angeles on December 29, 1927 from Balboa, Panama Canal Zone. When her father died, she inherited a large fortune and travelled extensively.

Marriage

On a trip she intended to be to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, in 1935, she met General MacArthur aboard the , which was to stop first in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, 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

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on April 30, 1937, during Gen. MacArthur's trip home to build support for the defense of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. 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 Truman. His only other visits to U.S. soil between 1937 and 1951 were a 1944 strategy meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii with President

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

and Admiral Nimitz and a 1950 meeting with President Truman on

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...

. 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 Arthur MacArthur IV (born February 21, 1938) is the only child of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Jean MacArthur. He is also the grandson of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur Jr. Early life Arthur MacArthur IV's early life was ...

(1938–), and were married until Douglas' death in 1964.

Wartime

Jean MacArthur was with her husband when the Japanese attacked the

and went with him to the island of Corregidor in

's harbor. Even when the island was attacked, she refused to leave her husband. Only when President Roosevelt ordered the MacArthurs to leave did they go to Australia.

Charity work

After her husband's death she helped with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

and other charities. In her later years, she often gave speeches on her late husband's military career. President Ronald Reagan awarded her the

Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

in 1988 and the Philippine government gave her its Legion of Merit in 1993.

Death

Mrs. MacArthur died of natural causes in Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan at age 101. She is entombed with her husband in the rotunda of the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia, the hometown of Gen. MacArthur's mother.

References

* . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, Jean 1898 births 2000 deaths People from Nashville, Tennessee People from Manhattan American centenarians

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

Ward–Belmont College alumni Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Women centenarians