Editing George S. Patton (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|List of places named for George S. Patton}}
According to [[Martin Blumenson]]:

{{blockquote|Patton epitomized the fighting soldier in World War II. He exercised unique leadership by his ability to obtain the utmost—some would say more than the maximum—response from American combat troops. Through his charisma, exemplified by a flamboyant and well-publicized image, he stimulated&nbsp;... American troops to an aggressive desire to close with and destroy the enemy. He personified the offensive spirit, the ruthless drive, and the will for victory in battle&nbsp;... As the outstanding exponent of combat effectiveness, particularly with respect to the employment of armored forces—that is, the combined use of tanks, motorized infantry, and self-propelled artillery, closely supported by tactical aircraft—Patton brought the blitzkrieg concept to perfection.<ref>Martin Blumenson, "Patton, George Smith" in John Garraty, ed. (1974). ''Encyclopedia of American Biography''. p. 839.</ref>}}

[[File:General Patton 3c 1953 issue U.S. stamp.jpg|thumb|right|General Patton U.S. commemorative stamp, issued in 1953]]

Patton's colorful personality, hard-driving leadership style, and success as a commander produced a mixed and often contradictory image when coupled with his frequent political mis-steps. His great oratory skill is seen as integral to his ability to inspire troops under his command.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=ix}} Historian [[Terry Brighton]] concluded that Patton was "arrogant, publicity-seeking and personally flawed, but&nbsp;... among the greatest generals of the war".{{Sfn|Brighton|2009|p=xv}} His impact was substantial on armored warfare and leadership, with the [[U.S. Army]] adopting many of his aggressive strategies for its training programs following his death. Many military officers claim inspiration from his legacy. The first American tank designed after the war became the [[M46 Patton]].{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=viii}}

Several actors have portrayed Patton on screen, most famously  [[George C. Scott]] in the 1970 film ''[[Patton (film)|Patton]]'', for which he won (and refused) the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]. He reprised the role in 1986 in the made-for-television film ''[[The Last Days of Patton]]'' which tells the story of his last few months.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B000HAB4N0/ The Last Days of Patton]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930050222/https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B000HAB4N0/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r |date=September 30, 2022 }}. Amazon Prime Video, retrieved 9/30/2021.</ref> 

Other actors who have portrayed Patton include:
* [[Stephen McNally]] in the 1957 episode "The Patton Prayer" of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] religion anthology series ''[[Crossroads (1955 TV series)|Crossroads]]''
* [[John Larch]] in the 1963 film ''[[Miracle of the White Stallions]]''
* [[Kirk Douglas]] in the 1966 film ''[[Is Paris Burning? (film)|Is Paris Burning?]]''
* [[George Kennedy]] in the 1978 film ''[[Brass Target]]''
* [[Darren McGavin]] in the 1979 miniseries [[Ike (TV miniseries)|''Ike'']]
* Robert Prentiss in the 1988 film ''[[Pancho Barnes (1988 film)|Pancho Barnes]]''
* [[Mitchell Ryan]] in the 1989 film ''[[Double Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White]]''
* [[Lawrence Dobkin]] in a 1989 episode of the miniseries ''[[War and Remembrance (TV miniseries)|War and Remembrance]]''
* [[Edward Asner]] in the 1997 film ''[[The Long Way Home (1997 film)|The Long Way Home]]''
* [[Gerald McRaney]] in the 2004 miniseries ''[[Ike: Countdown to D-Day]]''
* [[Dan Higgins]] in a 2006 episode of the miniseries ''[[Man, Moment, Machine]]''
* [[Kelsey Grammer]] in the 2008 film ''[[An American Carol]]''<ref name="imdb">{{citation |url=https://www.imdb.com/character/ch0028822/ |title=George S. Patton |publisher=[[IMDb]] |access-date=January 6, 2013 |archive-date=December 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212061004/http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0028822/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Ed Harris]] in ''[[Resistance (2020 film)|Resistance]]'' (2020).

=== Image ===
{{See also|George S. Patton's speech to the Third Army}}
[[File:Patton's Command Car.jpg|thumb|A replica of Patton's World War II command vehicle on display at the [[Lone Star Flight Museum]] in [[Houston]], [[Texas]]]]

Patton cultivated a flashy, distinctive image in the belief that it would inspire his troops. He carried an ivory-gripped, engraved, silver-plated [[Colt Single Action Army]] .45 caliber revolver on his right hip, and frequently wore an ivory-gripped [[Smith & Wesson Model 27]] .357 Magnum on his left hip.{{Sfn|Zaloga|2010|p=9}}{{Sfn|Brighton|2009|p=xvi}} He was usually seen wearing a highly polished helmet, riding pants, and high cavalry boots.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=478}} Patton also cultivated a stern expression he called his "war face".{{Sfn|Lovelace|2014|p=110}} He was known to oversee training maneuvers from atop a tank painted red, white, and blue. His [[jeep]] bore oversized rank placards on the front and back, as well as a klaxon horn which would loudly announce his approach from afar. He proposed a new uniform for the emerging Tank Corps featuring polished buttons, a gold helmet, and thick, dark padded suits; the proposal was derided in the media as "the Green Hornet", and it was rejected by the Army.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=77–79}}

Historian [[Alan Axelrod]] wrote that "for Patton, leadership was never simply about making plans and giving orders, it was about transforming oneself into a symbol".{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=80–82}} Patton intentionally expressed a conspicuous desire for glory, atypical of the officer corps of the day which emphasized blending in with troops on the battlefield. He was an admirer of Admiral [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Horatio Nelson]] for his actions in leading the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] in a full-dress uniform.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=80–82}} Patton had a preoccupation with bravery,{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=14–15}} wearing his rank insignia conspicuously in combat, and at one point during World War II he rode atop a tank into a German-controlled village seeking to inspire courage in his men.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=54–55}}

Patton was a staunch [[fatalist]],{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=4}} and he believed in [[reincarnation]]. He believed that he might have been a military leader killed in action in Napoleon's army or a [[Roman legionary]] in a previous life.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=11–12}}{{Sfn|Brighton|2009|pp=36–37}}

Patton developed an ability to deliver charismatic speeches.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=67–68}} He used profanity heavily in his speech, which generally was enjoyed by troops under his command, but it offended other generals, including Bradley.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=578}} The most famous of his speeches were a series that he delivered to the Third Army prior to Operation Overlord.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=130–131}} He was known for his bluntness and witticism; he once said, "The two most dangerous weapons the Germans have are our own armored [[halftrack]] and jeep. The halftrack because the boys in it go all heroic, thinking they are in a tank. The jeep because we have so many God-awful drivers."{{Sfn|Evans|2001|pp=151–168}} During the Battle of the Bulge, he famously remarked that the Allies should "let the sons-of-bitches [Germans] go all the way to Paris, then we'll cut them off and round them up."{{Sfn|Evans|2001|pp=151–168}} He also suggested facetiously that his Third Army could "drive the British back into the sea for another [[Battle of Dunkirk|Dunkirk]]."{{Sfn|Evans|2001|pp=151–168}}

As media scrutiny increased on Patton, his bluntness stirred controversy. These began in North Africa when some reporters worried that he was becoming too close to former Vichy officials with Axis sympathies.{{Sfn|Lovelace|2014|p=111}} His public image was more seriously damaged after the slapping incidents.{{Sfn|Lovelace|2014|p=113}} Another controversy occurred prior to Operation Overlord when Patton spoke at a British welcoming club at [[Knutsford]] in England: "Since it is the evident destiny of the British and Americans, and of course, the Russians, to rule the world, the better we know each other, the better job we will do." The next day, news accounts misquoted him by leaving off the Russians.{{Sfn|Lovelace|2014|p= 114}}

On a visit home after the war, he again made headlines when he attempted to honor several wounded veterans in a speech by calling them "the real heroes" of the war, unintentionally offending the families of soldiers who had been killed in action.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=163–164}} His final media blowup occurred in September 1945 when he said, "Denazification would be like removing all the Republicans and all the Democrats who were in office, who had held office or were quasi-Democrats or Republicans and that would take some time." This caused Eisenhower to relieve him from command of the Third Army.{{Sfn|Lovelace|2014|p=117}}

[[File:Patton's .357 revolver.jpg|thumb|right|Patton's well-known custom ivory-handled revolver]]

As a leader, Patton was known to be highly critical, correcting subordinates mercilessly for the slightest infractions, but also quick to praise their accomplishments.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|pp=77–79}} He garnered a reputation as a general who was both impatient and impulsive and had little tolerance for officers who had failed to succeed. However, he fired only General [[Orlando Ward]], and that after two warnings, whereas Bradley sacked several generals during the war.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|pp=467–468}} Patton reportedly had the utmost respect for the men serving in his command, particularly the wounded.{{Sfn|Atkinson|2007|p=147}} Many of his directives showed special trouble to care for the enlisted men under his command, and he was well known for arranging extra supplies for battlefield soldiers, including blankets and extra socks, galoshes, and other items normally in short supply at the front.{{Sfn|Wallace|1946|p=97}}

=== Views on race ===
Patton is known to have held racist attitudes typical for those of his upbringing and family roots in the Confederate South.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=4}}{{Sfn|Brighton|2009|p=18}} Privately he wrote of black soldiers:

<blockquote>Individually they were good soldiers, but I expressed my belief at the time, and have never found the necessity of changing it, that a colored soldier cannot think fast enough to fight in armor.{{Sfn|Patton|1947|p=60}}</blockquote>

However publicly, Patton stated that performance was more important than race or religious affiliation:

<blockquote>I don't give a damn who the man is. He can be a Nigger or a Jew, but if he has the stuff and does his duty, he can have anything I've got. By God! I love him.{{Sfn|Hirshson|2003|p=412}}</blockquote>

Addressing the [[761st Tank Battalion (United States)|761st Tank Battalion]] Patton also said:

<blockquote>Men, you are the first Negro tankers ever to fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. I have nothing but the best in my army. I don't care what color you are, so long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sonsabitches! Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all, your race is looking forward to you. Don't let them down and, damn you, don't let me down!{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=726}}</blockquote>

Patton called heavily on the Black troops under his command.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=4}} Historian Hugh Cole noted Patton was the first in the US to integrate black and white soldiers into the same rifle companies.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p= 726}}

Additionally, the one man Patton spent the most time with during World War II was his aide and personal valet, Sergeant Major William George Meeks. Meeks was an African American career soldier, and considered a personal confidant by General Patton.<ref name="hanson">{{cite magazine |url=https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/footnotes-to-greatness/ |title=Footnotes to Greatness: A review of Patton: A Soldier's Life, by Stanley P. Hirshson |first=Victor Davis |last=Hanson |magazine=Claremont Review of Books |date=Spring 2004 |volume=IV |number=2 |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209234412/https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/footnotes-to-greatness/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Anti-Russian sentiment ====
Patton admired [[Russia]] as a political entity, but was disdainful of [[Russians]] as a people, saying:

<blockquote>The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognizance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously. We can no more understand a Russian than a Chinaman or a Japanese, and from what I have seen of them, I have no particular desire to understand them, except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kill them. In addition to his other Asiatic characteristics, the Russian has no regard for human life and is an all out son of a bitch, barbarian, and chronic drunk.{{Sfn|Blumenson|1974|p=734}}</blockquote>

=== As viewed by Allied leaders ===
[[File:Patton Monument West Point in new location 2009 upright.JPG|thumb|upright|A statue of Patton at the US Military Academy at [[West Point]]]]

On 1 February 1945, Eisenhower wrote a memo ranking the military capabilities of his subordinate American generals in Europe. General Bradley and the [[Army Air Forces]] General [[Carl Spaatz]] shared the number one position, [[Walter Bedell Smith]] was ranked number three, and Patton number four.{{Sfn|D'Este|2002|p=801}} Eisenhower revealed his reasoning in a 1946 review of the book ''Patton and His Third Army'': "George Patton was the most brilliant commander of an Army in the open field that our or any other service produced. But his army was part of a whole organization and his operations part of a great campaign."{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=818}} Eisenhower believed that other generals should be given the credit for planning the successful Allied campaigns across Europe in which Patton was merely "a brilliant executor".{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=818}}

Eisenhower's overall view of Patton's military value is revealed in his refusal to even consider sending him home after the slapping incidents of 1943, after which he privately remarked, "Patton is indispensable to the war effort—one of the guarantors of our victory."{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=536}} [[Assistant Secretary of War]] [[John J. McCloy]] told Eisenhower: "[[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]]'s remark after they got after [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] comes to mind when I think of Patton—'I can't spare this man, he fights'."{{Sfn|D'Este|2002|p=442}} After Patton's death, Eisenhower wrote:

<blockquote>He was one of those men born to be a soldier, an ideal combat leader&nbsp;... It is no exaggeration to say that Patton's name struck terror at the hearts of the enemy.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=818}}</blockquote>

Historian [[Carlo D'Este]] insisted that Bradley disliked Patton both personally and professionally,{{sfn|D'Este|1995|pp=466–467}}{{sfn|D'Este|2002|pp=403–404}} but Bradley's biographer Jim DeFelice noted that the evidence indicated otherwise.{{sfn|DeFelice|2011|p=402}} President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] appeared to greatly esteem Patton and his abilities, stating "he is our greatest fighting general, and sheer joy".{{sfn|D'Este|1995|p=755}} On the other hand, Roosevelt's successor [[Harry S. Truman]] appears to have taken an instant dislike to Patton, at one point comparing both him and [[Douglas MacArthur]] to [[George Armstrong Custer]].{{sfn|D'Este|1995|p=755}}

For the most part, British commanders did not hold Patton in high regard. General [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Alan Brooke]] noted in January 1943:

<blockquote>I had heard of him, but I must confess that his swashbuckling personality exceeded my expectation. I did not form any high opinion of him, nor had I any reason to alter this view at any later date. A dashing, courageous, wild, and unbalanced leader, good for operations requiring thrust and push, but at a loss in any operation requiring skill and judgment.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=451}}</blockquote>

One exception was Field Marshal [[Bernard Montgomery]] who admired Patton's ability to command troops in the field, if not his strategic judgment.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=549}} Other Allied commanders were more impressed, the [[Free France|Free French]] in particular. General [[Henri Giraud]] was incredulous when he heard of Patton's dismissal by Eisenhower in late 1945 and invited him to Paris to be decorated by French President [[Charles de Gaulle]] at a state banquet. At the banquet, President de Gaulle gave a speech placing Patton's achievements alongside those of Napoleon.{{Sfn|Blumenson|1974|p=801}} Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]] stated that the [[Red Army]] could neither have planned nor executed Patton's rapid armored advance across France.{{Sfn|Hirshson|2003|p=562}}

=== As viewed by Axis leaders ===
[[File:2011-01-6 Baugnez laarzen van George Patton 6-01-2012 14-09-34.JPG|thumb|Patton's boots at a museum in [[Malmedy]]]]

Allied leaders expressed mixed feelings on Patton's capabilities, but the German High Command was noted to have more respect for him than for any other Allied commander after 1943.{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=127}} [[Adolf Hitler]] reportedly called him "that crazy cowboy general".{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=815}} Many German field commanders were generous in their praise of Patton's leadership following the war,{{efn|''[[Oberstleutnant]]'' Horst Freiherr von Wangenheim stated that "General Patton is the most feared general on all fronts. [His] tactics are daring and unpredictable&nbsp;.... He is the most modern general and the best commander of armored and infantry forces."{{Sfn|Blumenson|1974|pp=480–483}} ''General der Panzertruppen'' [[Hasso von Manteuffel]] described him as a "brilliant Panzer army commander."{{Sfn|McNeese|2003|p=78}} }} and many of its highest commanders also held his abilities in high regard. [[Erwin Rommel]] credited Patton with executing "the most astonishing achievement in mobile warfare".{{Sfn|Brighton|2009|p=xvii}} ''Generaloberst'' [[Alfred Jodl]] stated that Patton "was the American [[Heinz Guderian|Guderian]]. He was very bold and preferred large movements. He took big risks and won big successes."{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=815}} ''Generalfeldmarschall'' [[Albert Kesselring]] said:

<blockquote>Patton had developed tank warfare into an art, and understood how to handle tanks brilliantly in the field. I feel compelled, therefore, to compare him with ''Generalfeldmarschall'' Rommel, who likewise had mastered the art of tank warfare. Both of them had a kind of second sight in regard to this type of warfare.{{Sfn|D'Este|1995|p=815}}{{dubious source|date=September 2024}}</blockquote>

[[Fritz Bayerlein]] said, "I do not think that General Patton would let us get away so easily,"{{sfn|D'Este|1995|p=815}} referring to the escape of the Afrika Korps after the [[Second Battle of El Alamein|Battle of El Alamein]]. Field Marshal [[Gerd von Rundstedt]] told ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]'' after his capture, "He is your best."{{Sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=1}}