Opinions, of course, vary...
General Patton was struck down the day before he was scheduled to make a triumphant return to the United States. He had just been removed from his command of the Third Army, which was in charge of governing the American sector of Germany, because he not only opposed the dismemberment of Germany, but also because he favored military action against the Communists. As the most popular hero of the Second World War, Patton would have been unbeatable in a Presidential race.
The Patton Papers, 1940-45 recently published by Houghton Mifflin, gives ample reasons for the murder of General Patton. A few months before he was killed, his driver for five years, Master Sergeant John L. Mims, was replaced. Patton was asked by Major General Gay to accompany him on an excursion for a few hours the day before he was to return to America. At 11:45 A.M. in clear weather and on a straight stretch of road, the driver of a GMC military truck turned his vehicle directly into the side of the 1938 Cadillac 75 Special limousine in which Patton was the only person injured. He suffered some internal injuries but did not seem to be seriously hurt. On Dec. 21, 1945, it was announced that he had died of an "embolism". An air bubble emboli can be introduced into the bloodstream easily with a syringe by anyone with brief medical training.
Not only did the U.S. Army make no investigation into the "accident" which had put him into the hospital, but no questions were raised about his "embolism", despite the fact that he was one of the most popular and most powerful figures in America's history.
Attempts had been made in the past to assonate him. He had recorded in his diary that on April 20, 1945, while observing the front in his personal plane, which was clearly marked, an RAF Spitfire made three passes at his plane, attempting to shoot it down, failing to do so. it went out of control and crashed. The story was later put out that a Polish flyer had been piloting the Spitfire. Patton was not injured.
Patton's military exploits were such that he was the only American general whom the Germans feared. They transferred entire divisions as soon as rumors were spread that he was on a given front. During much of World War II, Patton survived repeated efforts of his fellow generals, as well as the British leaders, to get rid of him. In 1943, in spite of his victories at Gafsa and Gela, Patton was removed from command after Drew Pearson printed a story that Patton had slapped a soldier at a field hospital and called him a "yellow-bellied J**." Eisenhower used this inciden to refuse Patton command of American ground troops in England, giving the command instead to Omar Bradley.
Patton had no respect for Bradley. Patton wrote in his Diary Jan. 18, 1944, "Bradley is a man of great mediocrity. At Benning in command he failed to get discipline. At Gafsa when it looked as though the Germans might turn our right flank, he suggested we withdraw corps headquarters to Feriana. I refused to move."
Patton also had little respect for Eisenhower referring to him often as a "fool".
Patton had noted in his Diary, July 5, 1943 before his successful African campaign, "At no time did Ike wish us luck and say he was back of us—fool."
On July 12, 1944, Patton wrote in his Diary, "Neither Ike nor Bradley has the stuff. Ike is bound hand and foot by the British and doesn't know it. Poor fool."
Patton was also extremely disgusted with Eisenhower's infatuation with his "chauffeur", Kay Summersby, rumors were that Ike was going to divorce Mamie in order to marry her. There are also reasons to believe that Kay Summersby was a British Intelligence Officer.
Field Marshall Montgomery persuaded Eisenhower to issue one of the most amazing military orders in history. All of the Allied Armies must advance exactly abreast, so that no one (meaning Patton) would receive "undue credit." Throughout the war, Patton, unlike many General had remained in the field, whereas the other generals had remained far behind the front in their dugout "headquarters" or in luxurious villas far from the sound of gunfire.
During a press conference on May 8, 1945, Patton was asked, "Would you explain why we (the Americans) didn't go into Prague." "I can tell you, exactly," Patton replied. "We were ordered not to." Patton wrote to his wife on July 21, 1945. "I could have taken it (referring to Berlin) had I been allowed."
Eisenhower's refusal to allow Patton to take Prague and Berlin, holding him back while the Russians occupied these critical capitals, remains questionable.
On May 18, 1945, concerning the advisability of fighting Russians Patton wrote: "In my opinion the American Army as it now exists could beat the Russians with the greatest ease, because while the Russians have good infantry, they are lacking in artillery, air, tanks, and in the knowledge of the use of these combined arms; whereas we excel in all three of these. If it should be necessary to fight the Russians, the sooner we do it the better."
The longer Patton remained in Germany the more pro-German, anti-Russian, and anti-Semitic he became and he was never shy about voicing his opinions. He was also very much opposed to the break-up of Germany into fragmented sectors.