Souvenir typescript on a 6.5 x 9 sheet, signed in blue ink at the top. Youth, by Samuel Ullman, was a favorite poem of MacArthur’s. The text reads, in part: “Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the Soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust. Whatever your years, there is in every being’s heart the love of wonder, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for what’s next, and the joy and the game of life.” Accompanied by two book pages featuring unsigned portraits of MacArthur and a book page featuring a biography of MacArthur. In fine condition, with intersecting mailing folds, one running through the ‘g’ of the signature, and scattered light toning, primarily to the right side. As the supreme commander of the Japanese forces in Japan, MacArthur had a framed copy of this poem hanging in his office. MacArthur introduced the poem to many Japanese postwar leaders causing it to become an important work in current corporate Japan. MacArthur also quoted this poem, without attribution, in a January 26, 1955, speech to the Los Angeles County Council, and the words have often been misattributed to him as a result. RRAuction COA.
