This movie is based on a book by the same name that was a blatant character assassination on Patton rushed out after the popularity of the original movie "Patton" threatened to resurrect Patton as an actual American folk-hero. The facts are that Patton was an extremely-successful WWII general who commanded the US Third Army during its famous attack across Europe into the heart of Germany to bring down Hitler's government. After the war ended, he remained in command of the 3rd Army for 5 months as it became an occupation force in the southern portion of Germany that it controlled. Patton began to be criticized during these initial months of the occupation by people seeking to punish all of former Nazis, which in the Germany of that time was roughly about 75 percent of the adults. Patton attempted to deal pragmatically with the situation as he found it by using some of these people to assist in getting essential transportation and infrastructure operating again, much as McArthur eventually did in Japan a few months later. Unfortunately, while Patton was an outstanding general and administrator, he was a poor politician and the long knives in Washington found him an easy target. Patton was removed as 3rd Army commander in October, 1945 for being too 'friendly' with the Germans and placed in command of a 'paper force' 15th Army. Two months later in December, 1945, Patton was in a very minor traffic accident in which he suffered a traumatic injury to his spinal cord that led to his death a few days later. Ironically, Patton's soft-handed approach to military administration in Germany was ultimately followed by his successors and directly led to the successful development of the powerful democratic government that exists today in Germany.
The 'Last Days of Patton' movie and book paint a picture of a brooding, dark figure based on undocumented, unreferenced, and unsubstantiated claims that appear to have been fabricated as a crude character assassination and are totally at odds with facts and published reminisces of people who knew and worked closely with Patton, particularly Eisenhower and Bradley. For further background, read 'The Eisenhower Diaries' by Dwight Eisenhower (who later became the 34th US President), 'A Soldier's Story' by Omar Bradley, and 'War as I Knew It' by George Patton. Patton was one of the last of the American leaders who acted based on their 'old-fashioned' beliefs in Duty, Honor, Principle, and Character rather than on the work of the assassins and spinmeisters who tend to predominate today.
The 'Last Days of Patton' movie and book paint a picture of a brooding, dark figure based on undocumented, unreferenced, and unsubstantiated claims that appear to have been fabricated as a crude character assassination and are totally at odds with facts and published reminisces of people who knew and worked closely with Patton, particularly Eisenhower and Bradley. For further background, read 'The Eisenhower Diaries' by Dwight Eisenhower (who later became the 34th US President), 'A Soldier's Story' by Omar Bradley, and 'War as I Knew It' by George Patton. Patton was one of the last of the American leaders who acted based on their 'old-fashioned' beliefs in Duty, Honor, Principle, and Character rather than on the work of the assassins and spinmeisters who tend to predominate today.