General MacArthur's visit to Boston this July was well-timed. Tension from the tight American League pennant race had reached the breaking point, and MacArthur provided relief in the form of a different emotional outlet. The week after his visit Bostonians turned back to the pennant race with renewed enthusiasm for the Red Sox during the trying stretch drive ahead.

In the interests of mental health, the Boston press all but cleared the Red Sox off their front pages and substituted MacArthur. Coverage was detailed from his departure over a red carpet at New York's Waldorf-Astoria and included even a description of the general's meals (on Wednesday his supper consisted of a pitcher of orange juice).

Before his arrival the papers spoke of the "greatest welcome...ever accorded a visiting dignitary" the "like of which has never been witnessed in Boston's 300-year history." Police predicted 2,000,000 persons would see MacArthur on Wednesday in Boston--whose population is 770,000.

Next to 'The Wanderer'

(Coverage was limited in Wednesday's New York Times to 13 lines on page 21. The item was strategically placed under a story from Washington about protests to increased taxation; in the adjoining column was the announcement of a new novel, "The Wanderer.")

In describing MacArthur's arrival, the Record said:

The South Station area was converted into a sea of humanity...The crowd screamed: "The general. The general." ...When he emerged from the rotunda into the street the throng set a chant which was to echo all the way to Quincy and back again.

This presumably took two minutes and 19 seconds, since the temperature was 82 degrees.

Even the Monitor succumbed, saying, "Crushing crowds of cheering Bostonians stood on tiptoes today to get a fleeting glimpse." But the Times commented, "It was not the sort of hysterical outpouring that met Colonel Lindberg 23 years ago...nor was it quite the sort of demonstration associated with a personnage who is both a hero and a legend...Most people seemed content principally to turn to those near them and exclaim 'I saw him'."

'Humanity Is Fallible'

The press did not maintain a solid front as far as the size of the crowd was concerned. Most papers spoke of 1,000,000 spectators but the Post was satisfied with only 500,000. The split continued in editorial page discussion of the general's talk, the main purpose of his visit. To the Post it was "filled up with platitudes and inconsistencies," while the Herald called the speech "grand," conceding, however, that there were "glaring inconsistencies." The Record found it a "masterly address," but on the same page the daily quotation from William Randolph Hearst ran "Humanity is fallible. We cannot look for perfection in politicians."

The most imaginative report was in the Herald, which wrote: after the speech "the general was clapping the governor on the back as if to say, 'I'm sorry I had to get rough, Paul, but I didn't mean you'."

'She's So Sweet'

All during the visit the papers sought to out-adjective one another in describing MacArthur. He was "America's greatest soldier-statesman," and "like some sequoia, calm and proudly decked." Herald Columnist Bill Cunningham wrote that the general and his wife were "fresh as flowers in a florist's refrigerator" and noted, "If every wife were as pretty, as trim and as charming as Mrs. MacArthur, despite Corregidor, Australia, Japan, etc., they wouldn't have to resort to dreaming."

Since Mrs. MacArthur mostly watched her husband during the visit, reporters had to trample their pride to fill up long articles about her. A detective was quoted, describing her eyes. "They are so intense, so animated that you can't catch the exact color." The Globe ran a headline: "'She's So Sweet,' They Said as Mrs. MacArthur Rode By." An eight column headline in the Traveler read: "Mrs. MacArthur Quickly Uses Gift Handbag."