George S. Patton

George S. Patton

George Smith Patton, Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was an officer in the United States Army best known for his leadership as a general during World War II. He also developed a reputation for eccentricity and for sometimes-controversial gruff outspokenness—such as during his profanity-laced speech to his expeditionary troops.

He was on the U.S. 1912 Olympic pentathlon team and also designed the U.S. Cavalry's last combat saber: the "Patton Saber" (the M-1913). In 1916 he led the first-ever U.S. motorized-vehicle attack during the punitive expedition. In World War I, he was the first officer assigned to the new United States Tank Corps and saw action in France.

In World War II, he commanded corps and armies in North Africa, Sicily, and the European Theater of Operations. In 1944, Patton assumed command of the U.S. Third Army, which under his leadership advanced farther, captured more enemy prisoners, and liberated more territory in less time than any other army in history. A German field marshal speaking to American reporters called Patton "your best" (general).