Lesson
Douglas MacArthur and Hubris
What are the benefits of humility in leadership? Learn about the vice of hubris through the story of Douglas MacArthur.
Founding Principles
Virtues
Guiding questions
Essential Question
- How can excessive pride or hubris undermine our ambition and civic responsibilities/goals for our communities?
Guiding Questions
- To what extent is some degree of ambition necessary for a person to carry out significant leadership roles?
- What is the significance of humility in leadership?
- What is the danger of hubris in a leader in a republic?
Learning Objectives:
- Students will explain the benefits of humility in leadership by learning about the vice of hubris through the story of Douglas MacArthur.
- Students will analyze a primary source and compare humility and pride in MacArthur’s own words.
- Students will reflect on their own examples of hubris and the negative effects it has had on themselves and others.
Materials
Student Resources
Teacher Resources
- Analysis Questions
- Virtue in Action
- Journal Activity
- Sources for Further Reading
- Virtue Across the Curriculum
Lesson Components
Lesson plan
60 minClick a phase to open it
Key Terms
- Hubris
- To have excessive pride, vanity, and arrogance that usually leads to a tragic fall.
- Arrogant
- Having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities.
- Imperious
- Assuming power or authority without justification; arrogant and domineering.
- Contempt
- The offense of being disobedient to or disrespectful.
- Admonished
- Warn or reprimand someone firmly.
More Information
Procedures
- The following lesson asks students to consider how hubris in leadership can lead to downfall. As a constitutional republic, the United States needs leaders who encompass humility by putting others’ needs ahead of themselves. Students will engage with the story of Douglas MacArthur as they consider the question: How can excessive pride or hubris undermine our ambition and civic responsibilities/goals for our communities?
- The main activity in this lesson requires students to read and analyze a narrative that explores how Douglas MacArthur fell victim to the vice of hubris.
- Students will also conduct a primary source analysis of a speech by MacArthur. Additionally, the lesson includes reflection exercises to connect the historical example of MacArthur with your students’ daily lives. You may choose to use either or both activities.
- Lastly, the lesson includes sources used in this lesson for further reading and suggestions for cross-curricular connections.
Standards
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