Did General Douglas MacArthur have Parkinson disease? A video and archival analysis

Historians have suggested that MacArthur had Parkinson disease (PD), and that this may have influenced his military judgment. There is little evidence to support or to refute this suggestion.

We aimed in this article to review multiple cinematic images, as well as the personal writings of Douglas MacArthur to determine the likelihood that he had PD.

A complete review of the Western literature on Douglas MacArthur, including YouTube, Google Scholar/Google Images/Google Video, PubMed, and HighWirePress was undertaken. Over 200 minutes of film footage was analyzed, including such factors as MacArthur's facial profiles, facial expression, gait, posture, and movement. Handwriting samples from over 6 decades were compared for evidence of micrographia. Videos and handwriting samples were independently reviewed by 3 fellowship-trained movement disorders neurologists.

Examination of video footage showed evidence of progression of head tremors, postural action tremors, and voice tremors. There were no clear indications of a masked face, rigidity, bradykinesia, or a resting tremor on film footage recorded from 1906 to 1964. There was no evidence of micrographia in handwriting samples. Oral testimony and letters written by an attending gastroenterologist present at MacArthur's death in 1964 revealed no evidence of parkinsonian features.

We conclude that MacArthur had mild essential tremor that was more evident in his postmilitary career. There was no evidence to suggest that he had a clinical diagnosis of progressive PD.