Patton: The Dyslexic General

The career of General George S. Patton, Jr. (1885-1945) is one of the most thoroughly documented of the major commanders of World War II. Patton kept diaries and saved virtually every scrap of paper he ever handled. Even with such voluminous, detailed, and often personal material available on this flamboyant military leader, it is only recently that we began to understand the hitherto unknown elements that shaped his career.

Historians read the past through the lens of their own time. Patton, greatly concerned about shaping an acceptable public image, did not call attention to his dyslexia. Moreover, neither did those who wrote about his swashbuckling exploits in the aftermath of World War II care to investigate it, despite such red flags as the frequent symptomatic idiosyncrasies in his spelling and punctuation and his early difficulties in learning.

Given the psychological knowledge of his time, neither Patton himself, nor historians could have been aware that he may also have suffered from an affliction known today as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which afflicts many dyslexics, nor could historians have identified the condition until recently. That Patton had dyslexia is supported by his family which, early on, noticed that letters appeared reversed and upended by George. This family information has been supported by recent biographers (Martin Blumenson, Patton: the Man Behind the Legend 1885-1945 [New York, 1985], pp. 16-17; Carlo D’Este, Patton: A Genius for War [New York, 1995], pp. 45-47). The details on his dyslexia will be discussed more explicitly in the context of his childhood and education.

It is also worth examining whether Patton also had Attention Deficit Disorder. Its major symptoms are poor impulse control, susceptibility

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to accidents, extreme mood swings in response to events, and brief displays of excessive temper (Mark Selikowitz, Dyslexia and Other Learning Difficulties [Oxford, 1998], pp. 111-114). This syndrome is supported by the Manual of Diagnostic and Statistical Disorders – IV. Patton displayed all of these as a commanding officer, sometimes notoriously, as with the pair of infamous slapping incidents during World War II in which he was accused of abusing enlisted men (For a detailed account, see Ladislas Farago, Patton: Ordeal and Triumph [London, 1966], pp. 186-187).

The frustrations experienced by a person dealing with dyslexia or ADD can be overwhelming, and may lead to destructive self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy, bouts of uncontrollable anger, and emotional hypersensitivity. On the other hand, some of his strengths may also be related to his condition. For example, his flexibility and willingness to shift strategy, including the quick deal he cut in Casablanca which permitted the formerly Vichy forces to continue governing Morocco in November, 1942, may be connected to his short attention span. Another symptom was his boredom with mundane tasks, such as his 1916 garrison duty at the Mexican town of Dublan, where he wrote, “We are all rapidly going crazy from lack of occupation and there is no help in sight” (Letter from George S. Patton, Jr. to Beatrice Ayer Patton, July 29 1916, cited in D’Este, Genius, p. 178).

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that does not reflect a lack of intelligence. Quite the contrary, many dyslexics are extremely intelligent and are often characterized as gifted; however, their perceptual styles are different from the norm. (Selikowitz, Dyslexia, pp. 16-17).

Creative geniuses such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein are thought by many to be dyslexic. The creative imagination Patton brought to the art of war was not fundamentally different from the vision of great artists and scientists. Along with the almost intangible, seemingly instinctive ability to grasp and visualize the complexities of battle, another element of Patton’s successes that may have been spurred by his disability was his prodigious willingness to work hard to overcome all obstacles. “No soldier in the annals of the U.S. Army ever worked more diligently to prepare himself for high command than did Patton” (D’Este, Genius, p. 3).

The building blocks for Patton’s career were laid at his comfortable family home in Lake Vineyard, California. He grew up in a close-knit family under the scrutiny of his father, George S. Patton II, a Southern aristocrat proud of his family’s martial background, and his mother, Ruth, daughter of one of the founders of the state of California. His father relinquished a profitable law practice and his office as district attorney in 1885, dedicating himself to managing the troubled business interests of a relative, including real estate and a winery. George, who was left-handed, had one younger sibling, Anne. An expert horseman at an early age, Patton established himself as an accident-prone risk-taker in his riding and childhood war games. He remained a magnet for accidents through his military career, from a tent fire that singed his face during the 1916 Mexican Expedition to auto accidents in the waning months of World War II.

One of his family’s more eccentric figures, Aunt Nannie, became the boy’s second mother, and refused to permit his biological parents to punish him for childhood infractions. Along with his easy-going father, who encouraged young George’s martial proclivities by giving him a rifle and a wooden sword, educated him by reading the Greek classics aloud, and filled him with stories of the gallant South during the Civil War, Aunt Nannie did more to shape his mentality than anyone in his childhood. Nannie also read to him, especially from the Bible and stories about Alexander the Great and Napoleon. His parents may have doted on him, but Nannie was obsessed with the boy.

Nannie was never certain if her efforts had any effect and even came to the conclusion that he was dim-witted. Until he started school at the age of eleven, he was unable to read or write. Patton’s early education was not unusual at a time when privileged children often were tutored at home until a relatively advanced age. Early on, however, his parents discovered he had a learning disability that hampered his ability to read (D’Este, Genius, p. 45). Today, that disability is recognized as dyslexia, a malady first identified in 1896, one year before the eleven-year old Patton entered the Classical School for Boys in Pasadena, unable to read or write. Dyslexia did not become widely recog-

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nized in the U.S. until the 1920s, well into Patton’s tenure as a military officer.

Dyslexia is not simply a matter of reversing letters or numbers but is a complicated disorder whose symptoms include hyperactivity, obsessiveness, mood swings, difficulty in concentrating, impulsiveness and compulsiveness. These symptoms also fit the pattern for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHS). Because of their effort to overcome difficulty in reading and writing, dyslexics can be driven by a compulsion to succeed yet they often harbor feelings of inferiority. Virtually every symptom of dyslexia can be found in the adult Patton. “Pa, I am stupid there is no use talking I am stupid [sic]. It is truly unfortunate that such earnestness and tenacity and so much ambition should have been put into a body incapable of doing anything but wish,” he despaired while a cadet at West Point (Letter from George S. Patton, Jr. to George S. Patton II, June 3, 1905, cited in D’Este, Genius, p. 84). This was despite his prodigious intellectual powers and ability to recall lengthy Bible passages and entire volumes of poetry.

At the elite Classical School for Boys, where Patton spent six years getting his first formal schooling, he was a diligent student who struggled with algebra, geometry and arithmetic because of his dyslexia. Drawing from his family-tutored knowledge, his marks in ancient and modern history were consistently high. Given the many generations of Pattons who graduated from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) since the academy’s founding, his inconsistent school record was no obstacle to admission. He started classes in September, 1903, even as his father worked tirelessly to secure his admission to West Point. His parents accompanied him to VMI, along with Aunt Nannie, setting up housekeeping near the school for the entire school year.

At VMI, Patton applied himself with vengeance. His military work rose above that of his classmates and his academic marks were good, even if he was struggling. Knowing that his dream of West Point could slip away, he redoubled his efforts and his grades steadily improved. He was aided by the dyslexic’s need to strive hard to overcome all impediments. By the time he finally entered West Point in 1904, Patton had taken a passable performance at the Classical School and forged it into an impressive one at VMI. The first real and significant challenge of Patton’s life had been conquered by dint of hard work and perseverance.

At West Point, Patton’s consciousness as an aristocrat of Southern provenance was exceeded only by his mood swings, self-doubting, and self-aggrandizement. Patton alternately berated, then praised himself. “I am a characterless, lazy, stupid, yet ambitious dreamer; who will degenerate into a third rate second lieutenant and never command anything more than a platoon,” he wrote. (Letter from George S. Patton, Jr. to George S. Patton II, 1904, cited in D’Este, Genius, p. 79). It was a dizzying ride through the emotional roller coaster of dyslexia. All the while, “Papa” gave patient, judicious, and loving counsel to his son. Never judgmental, always analytical, he was the lens through which Patton saw his problems clearly. Patton was torn between a vision of future greatness and doubts about his competence prompted by his dyslexia.

There were setbacks at West Point. Failing math, a typical hurdle for dyslexics, Patton was forced to repeat his plebe year. This reinforced his feelings of inadequacy, but drove him to new heights of perseverance. In his final year, Patton was named Adjutant of Cadets, and would graduate with the rank of 46th in a class of 103 cadets. He had survived into adulthood and had learned to thrive in his dyslexic world.

In conclusion, Patton’s supportive upbringing, encouraged by legends of ancestral martial prowess and the attention lavished on him by close relatives, proved a correct formula for bringing the best out in a dyslexic person. His formative environment helped him become a historic figure when it would have been likely, given the extent of his disability, that he would become anonymous and marginal. Patton’s family played a vital role in his development, leaving him well equipped in a society that misunderstood his condition. They provided a learning environment tailored for his com-

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bination of brilliance and disability. Understanding Patton’s disability and the efforts he undertook to overcome it help us fathom the human dimensions of a figure often caricatured as a coarse, able but sometimes irresponsible swashbuckler.

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