MacArthur did an even better job as Governor General of Japan after the war. He turned a conquered nation into a staunch ally.
> MacArthur boasted that he lost fewer men winning the Pacific War than Eisenhower did establishing Anzio Beachhead. <
Ah, but would that statement have been true if there had been no atomic bomb? Invading mainland Japan would have been a nasty business.
So I think MacArther just got lucky there.
By the way, I agree with you that MacArther did a fine job administering Japan after the war. A more vengeful administrator might have made the Japanese sullen and resentful, like Germans were after WW I.