Eisenhower and Bradley used Patton and then threw him away when he spoke the truth about the Soviets. Perhaps. But it was more political than that, and Patton was not a politician, he was a warrior.
When you have Roosevelt/Truman & Churchill sitting down to powwow with Stalin regarding a World War, you tend to not want to alienate one of your partners, regardless of your feelings towards him or his government, at that time. [the enemy of my enemy, is my friend.]
Patton's problem wasn't so much what he thought, but what he said. Open mouth, insert foot.
Don't misunderstand; I have great admiration for Patton, and I suspect, underneath it all so did Ike and Bradly, or at least shared some of his thoughts on the Soviets, whether they publicaly admitted it (at that time) or not. As a warrior - a pure warrior - there was no equal to Patton. They had to know that.
The German's sure as hell did.
Don't misunderstand; I have great admiration for Patton, and I suspect, underneath it all so did Ike and Bradly, or at least shared some of his thoughts on the Soviets, whether they publicaly admitted it (at that time) or not. Wouldn't it have been interesting to have followed Patton's activities five years after the close of the Second World War, had Patton's life not been taken in the vehicle "accident" that claimed his life.
A Patton-versus-MacArthur brawl to see which was top dog would have been unpleasant, but Patton as a replacement for Mac [instead of former Airborne General Matt Ridgway] would have no doubt terrorized the North Koreans, Chinese and Russian Soviets, as well as their sympathizers at the UN and in the U.S. State Department. But somehow, I suspect he would have gotten along with the tough little former artillery officer from Missouri as his commander-in-chief, and would have performed miracles for him.
