"The great Third Army and a son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named George Patton!" (c)

Few generals have a record so varied and storied as George Patton did - fewer still have such a good time doing it. That isn’t to say he was a warmonger - more likely, he considered war simply the most prestigious and the most masculine of sports. And when it came to sports, it was Patton’s belief that
“Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time.”

George Smith Patton Jr. was born in 1885 to a well-off family of a career soldier, and never considered being anything other than a military man. His record from West Point indicates as much — excellent performance in all things military. Including fencing, down to designing a new kind of cavalry sabre.

After Patton's first combat during the Mexican Revolution, he acquired a taste for it, and in WWI led a tank unit during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. His steely resolve is encapsulated in the simple note he left in his diary on the eve of the battle: “Will start soon.”



After the Great War, Patton became a large proponent of developing an armored warfare doctrine. He helped establish the US Armored Corps, taking cues from both the French and the Germans, and went down in history as one of the most successful armored commanders of all time. That isn’t to say serving with General Patton was easy on the best of days. He was a demanding disciplinarian, and a proponent of quick and aggressive action, nor did he pick his words very carefully. The grunts loved him for it, even if they knew he’d push them to the limit of their ability, but the HIgh Command considered him a time bomb. And several times, it did go off.

Patton often lacked subtlety, and he was by no means a unique case in the Allied Army. His frequent clashes with Montgomery, and their constant one-upmanship was a cause of many headaches in the High Command, and for Supreme Commander Eisenhower in particular. President Truman once wrote,

“Don’t see how a country can produce such men as Robert E. Lee, John J. Pershing, Eisenhower and Bradley and at the same time produce Custers, Pattons and MacArthurs.”



General Patton was also notorious for his dislike for Russians, describing them unfavorably after every single encounter with them. It was Patton’s belief that with Germany demilitarized and shared with the Soviets, and the US Army shrinking during peacetime, the Communist takeover of Europe was only a matter of time.

“Now the horrors of peace, pacifism and unions will have unlimited sway,” he wrote. “I wish I were young enough to fight in the next [war].”

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