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On February 1, 1945 Eisenhower wrote a memo ranking the military capabilities of his subordinate American generals in the ETO.
Army General Omar Bradley and Army Air Force General Carl Spaatz shared the number one position, while Walter Bedell Smith, ( a staff officer with no field command experience during the war ), was ranked number 2.
Eisenhower ranked Patton at a distant number 3.
It was a curious conclusion, since in terms of military successes Patton had accomplished far more than any other U. S. ground force commander, particularly in comparison to Bradley.
Eisenhower revealed his reasoning in a 1946 review of the book Patton and his Third Army: " George Patton was the most brilliant commander of an army in the open field that our or any other service produced.
But his army was part of a whole organization and his operations part of a great campaign.
" Eisenhower believed that other generals such as Bradley should be given the credit for planning the successful Allied campaigns across Europe in which Patton was merely " a brilliant executor ".
Eisenhower once remarked, " George, you are a great leader, but a poor planner.
" Patton shot back, " Except for Operation Torch, which I planned and which was a great success, I have never been given the chance to plan.

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