Video: 'How Patton’s Words Ended His Career After World War II'

(Tuesday, October 2, 1945) — Gen. George S. Patton has been relieved of his command of the Third Army and his post as military governor of Bavaria, Allied headquarters announced tonight.

Supreme Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower reassigned Patton to Bad Homburg, where he will oversee a small group compiling the tactical history of the European war.

The action followed a press conference a week ago in which Patton compared the issue of Nazis versus anti-Nazis in postwar Germany to “a Democratic-Republican election fight.” He also remarked that the chief hope for successful occupation was in showing Germans what “grand fellows we are.”

Patton’s comments drew sharp attention to the political situation in Bavaria, where Nazi influence remained strong. An investigation led Eisenhower to summon Patton and demand immediate corrective measures.

Patton rushed back 300 miles through a rainstorm to his headquarters at Bad Tolz, and by the next day dismissed Bavarian Minister-President Fritz Schaeffer and his cabinet, dominated by Schaeffer’s conservative People’s Party. A Social Democrat has been appointed as Schaeffer’s successor.