Patton bio and what made hima good leader

Essay by resgtmm2491High School, 11th gradeA+, April 2004

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General George Patton was one of the most decorated soldiers in the history of the United States. Many people have wondered what made him tick, why he was so great, and why his troops obeyed him to the "t". Patton was a man of hard work, perseverance, study, and eternal desire. He was always prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.

Patton like many other great military leaders had a strategy, a game plan. Patton stuck to a few basic ideas: surprise, find out what the enemy intends to do and do it first; keep the enemy on its heals, not allowing it to build or to keep its balance; relentless pursuit, drive the enemy into the ground until it is completely vanquished; and finally mop up the enemy, take care of survivors and clean up leftovers. He used many ideas from past leaders; one of his key prerequisites was to know the history of battles and learn how to react from them.

Hitler, who was a leader at the same time as him, was a key player in his tactics. He used "Blitzkrieg", the German word for lightning strikes, as his main tactic on the battlefield, soldiers pounded their enemy with concentrated, rapid strikes for as long as possible. Patton also had no idea of remorse or mercy. Many times in sports, a team can be winning, celebrating the victory, and let their guard down. Meanwhile, the opposing team strikes up an amazing amount of heart and will, comes back, and defeats the opposing team. Patton would not stand for this, thus neither than would his men.

One of Patton's key foundations was that he knew the principles to war, one of which include war results in fighting, and fighting results in killing. He understood this,