President Truman's relief of General Douglas MacArthur purposes is [just temporarily] allied with Soviet Russia." If MacArthur's thesis was accepted, then it followed that expanding the war with China would not provoke a conflict with the Soviet Union. The Joint Chiefs emphatically disagreed, although this contradicted their position that it was Europe and not Asia that was the prime concern of the Soviet Union. Even among Republicans, there was little support for MacArthur's position. On 5 April, Martin read the text of a letter he had received from MacArthur, dated 20 March, criticizing the Truman administration's priorities on the floor of the House. In it, MacArthur had
President of the Philippines last due to his supremacy), and second, to establish a constitutionally valid successor before the President-elect accedes. During the Quezon inauguration, however, the Vice President and the Legislature were sworn in after the President, to symbolise a new start. As soon as the President takes the Oath of Office, a 21-gun salute is fired to salute the new head of state, and the Presidential Anthem "Mabuhay" is played. The President delivers his inaugural address, and then proceeds to Malacañang Palace to climb the Grand Staircase, a ritual which symbolises the formal possession of the Palace. The President then inducts the