About this episode

This episode explores the controversial legacy of General George S. Patton and questions whether he is truly America's most overrated general.

George S. Patton is considered one of America’s greatest generals for his blitzes across Europe in World War 2. He is celebrated for breaking out of Normandy because his Third Army push out of their holdings along the coast, unleashing a lightning-fast armored blitz across northern France that routed retreating German forces and liberated Paris months ahead of schedule. And following the Third Army’s dramatic relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, the American press and public widely lionized Patton as a national hero who spearheaded the drive into Germany. When he returned stateside in June 1945, he received massive ticker-tape parades and hero’s welcomes in Boston, Los Angeles, and Denver, drawing crowds of hundreds of thousands. Officially, the military affirmed his heroism by awarding him two Distinguished Service Crosses—the nation’s second-highest valor award, explicitly citing his "extraordinary heroism" under enemy fire in both world wars. He was immortalized in the George C. Scott movie ‘Patton’, and has persistently been named in polls as the greatest American military commander of all time. But that’s not how…

People in this episode

Host: History Unplugged

Topics covered

• military history
• World War 2
• generalship
• American history
• Patton's legacy
• historical analysis

Keywords

• George S. Patton
• Omar Bradley
• World War 2
• military generals
• Battle of the Bulge
• Normandy
• American history
• historical debate

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Patton

Places: Normandy, Paris, Boston, Los Angeles, Denver

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