MacArthur returned to Washington, D.C. (his first time in the continental U.S. in 11 years), where he made his last public appearance in a farewell address to the U.S. Congress, interrupted by thirty ovations. In his closing speech, he recalled: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away... And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away — an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Good-bye."
In 1945, MacArthur gave his Gold Castles engineers' insignia to his chief engineer, Jack Sverdrup. This insignia continues to be worn by the Army's Chief of Engineers as a tradition.
On his return from Korea, after his relief by Truman, MacArthur encountered massive public adulation, which aroused expectations that he would run for the presidency as a Republican in the 1952 election. However, a U.S. Senate Committee investigation of his removal (which largely vindicated the actions taken by President Truman), chaired by Democrat Richard Russell, contributed to a marked cooling of the public mood, and hopes for a MacArthur presidential run died away. MacArthur, in Reminiscences, repeatedly stated he had no political aspirations.
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