Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. Douglas MacArthur (26 January 1880 – 5 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He served with distinction in World War I, was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, and received it for his service in the Philippines campaign. This made him along with his father Arthur MacArthur Jr. the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the U.S. Army, and the only one conferred the rank of field marshal in the Philippine Army.

This is a lovely letter typed by MacArthur on February 10th, 1959, thanking Mrs. L. Mount of Botsford, Connecticut for her birthday greeting to the former General. The letter measures roughly 8 x 10⅜” and is signed at the bottom right by MacArthur, but is likely an autopen signature. 

An autopen (or signing machine) is a device used for the automatic signing of a signature. Celebrities may be asked to provide their signatures many times a day, such as celebrities receiving requests for autographs. Consequently, many public figures employ autopens to allow their signature to be printed on demand and without their direct involvement. Given the exact verisimilitude to the real hand signature, the use of the autopen allows for a small degree of wishful thinking and plausible deniability as to whether a famous autograph is real or reproduced, thus increasing the perception of the personal value of the signature by the lay recipient.

The letter comes with a 6½ x 8½” print of a drawing of MacArthur by Adolph Treidier. The print is on heavyweight paper 0.38mm thick, similar to oak tag, and definitely is not a recent print, though we have no way of verifying when it was made.

A very lovely example, perfect for framing and display.