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George S. Patton Rhetorical Analysis

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General George S Patton, also known as ‘Old Blood and Guts,’ was by far one of the greatest and most controversial generals within the U.S army during World War 2. Renowned for his leadership of the Third Army, he was the center of controversy, such as the time when he called for war against the Soviets (Wilcox, 2010, p. 112). In doing this, General George S. Patton painted himself as an agitator, which is an individual who “speaks of the violation or misappropriation of the present form of society, but he does not hold it ultimately responsible for social ills” (Lowenthal, 1948). According to the Portrait of the American Agitator, the average agitator George S. Patton fits this description quite well, in the sense that he refused to capitulate to what could be deemed in today’s terms as “political correctness.” Unfortunately, as history has demonstrated, those who speak out against public opinion are often scorned, ostracized and even subject to violence. Within Blumenson’s book, The Patton Papers, George S. Patton shares his unpopular opinion of the Germans in a letter to his wife Beatrice:
The stuff in the papers about fraternization is all wet… All that sort of writing is done by Jews to get revenge. Actually the Germans are the only decent people left in Europe. It’s a choice between them and the Russians. I prefer the Germans. So do our cousins… (p. 744).
Inarguably, these words written by Patton were possibly some of the most dangerous statements he could

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