Editing George S. Patton (section)

=== 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>