The MacArthur family was for over one hundred years active in the affairs of the United States. Among them, there were two Army Generals, two awarded the Medal of Honor (the first father-son pair thus honored), four awards of the nation's second highest combat decoration (one of the Navy Cross for Arthur II and three of the DSC for Douglas), seven awards of the Distinguished Service Medal (one each of the Navy DSM to brothers Arthur III and Douglas as well as five Army DSMs to Douglas), a Lieutenant Governor & Governor of Wisconsin (Arthur Sr.), Judge of the US District Court of D.C. (also Arthur Sr.) and career Foreign Service Officer and Ambassador (Douglas II).

Note: The MacArthur given name convention is slightly confusing. The patriarch was Arthur Sr., whose son was Arthur Jr, who had three sons: Arthur III, Malcolm (died in his youth), and Douglas. Arthur III's son is Douglas II, and Douglas' son is Arthur IV.