Having been brought up in Mexico, which inculcated into him the Spanish culture in which both the Mexico and the Philippines had similarities, Ord was deemed as the right pick for the job. Eisenhower had strong philosophical disagreements with MacArthur regarding the role of the Philippine Army and the leadership qualities that an American army officer should exhibit and develop in his subordinates. The antipathy between Eisenhower and MacArthur lasted the rest of their lives.[72]
After quite some time, on December of 1935, after realizing that the mission of constructing a well-sound plan for the creation of the Philippine Army was very lagging behind, his optimistic character turned into a bleak state, all the more when in 1936, Eisenhower was entrusted with the responsibility of finding the right officer who would train the fresh recruits; there was simply not enough manpower for potential instructors.
Historians have concluded that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the challenging personalities of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton, George Marshall, and Bernard Montgomery during World War II. Eisenhower later emphasized that too much had been made of the disagreements with MacArthur and that a positive relationship endured.