As a man, however, he was haunted by personal demons of a combination of impulsiveness, reckless personal behavior, feelings of worthlessness and outright depression. Of course, everyone knows of the " slapping incidents". It was these types of incidents that would help torpedo Patton’s career. Gen. Eisenhower, who was friends with Patton throughout their careers, saved Patton on many instances, but Ike believed that the very qualities that made Patton fast and aggressive in battle also created a certain instability and volatility which were barely under control. But ultimately even Ike could not save Patton’s career. His repeated conflicts with the chain of command and in particular the political leadership, as well as his conflicts with his allied counterparts would often leave him playing lesser roles in the grand scheme of things. His greatest self inflected wounds came from his encounters with the media. His comments were what we would call today " politically incorrect". He was reassigned to a non-combat command and would die shortly afterwards from a car accident. His untimely death would lead to the legend of Gen. Patton.

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There is no question of the contributions that Gen. Patton made in the areas of command presence, tactics, military professionalism, updating the cavalry idea, combined arms approach, the principle of speed, reduction of collateral damage, training, and leadership.

While many of us are familiar with the legend of Gen. Patton, this book gives new insight into Patton the man.

Elliott Grollman
MAJ., USAR (Ret.)
Adjunct Professor

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