American Caesar

For the Iggy Pop album, see American Caesar (album).

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880–1964 is a 1978 biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur by American historian William Manchester.^[1]

American Caesar

First edition
Author	William Manchester
Language	English
Subject	Biography
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date	September 30, 1978
Publication place	United States
Pages	793
ISBN	9780316544986

Manchester paints a sympathetic but balanced portrait of MacArthur, praising the general for what he calls his military genius, administrative skill, and personal bravery, while criticizing his vanity, paranoia, and tendency toward insubordination. As the title suggests, Manchester's central thesis is that MacArthur was an analogue of Julius Caesar, a proposition he supports by comparing their purported great intellect, brilliant strategic generalship, political ambition, magnanimity as conquerors, and shared tragic flaw of hubris.

It was made into a series in 1983 hosted by John Huston.