American Caesar

{{Short description|1978 biography of Douglas MacArthur by William Manchester.}}

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{{Infobox book

| name = American Caesar

| orig title =

| translator =

| image = American Caesar.jpg

| caption = First edition

| author = William Manchester

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| country = United States

| language = English

| series =

| subject = Biography

| genre = Non-fiction

| publisher = Little, Brown and Company

| pub_date = September 30, 1978

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| pages = 793

| isbn = 9780316544986

| preceded_by =

| followed_by =

}}

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880–1964 is a 1978 biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur by American historian William Manchester.{{Cite journal |last=Pogue |first=Forrest |date=1979 |title=The Military in a Democracy: A Review |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2626763 |journal=International Security |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=58–80 |doi=10.2307/2626763 |jstor=2626763 |issn=0162-2889|url-access=subscription }}

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.