A complex legacy for sure. My grandfather was a colonel that served under him in the Philippines in the 30s, saying when asked "he was a good administrator" (I'm thinking now the unsaid subtext might have been "but he was an arrogant asshole") Like other American military prima donnas (Custer and Patton also come to mind), they tended to succeed when they utilized the full might of the US military forces behind them, perhaps less so because of their "genius"? In any case, MacArthur's act certainly worked well in an administrative capacity with the Philippines and in rebuilding Japan, as those cultures perhaps liked/bought his imperial act. On the minus side he got his butt kicked in Luzon then as you said, arrogantly underestimated the situation with the Chinese at the Yalu River. Custer was very effective with the lightning raid...until he wasn't (Like MacArthur he arrogantly failed to size up his opponent). Patton (who helped liberate my father from prison camp) was a different animal in the sense that he seemed to use his prima donna-ness to good effect (inspirational bravado) and perhaps did a better job of sizing up opponents (failed Task Force Baum notwithstanding), or maybe he was just luckier! Good thing the US "checks and balances" of Truman came to bear before MacArthur was recklessly able to drop an A-bomb!