George S. Patton was a great field general. However, he could not ever be a Commander in Chief because he had no political skills. Eisenhower was a good Commander in Chief because the job required that. Keeping FDR, Churchill, Patton, and Montgomery on the same page took a special kind of diplomat. As far as I know, Eisenhower never had a major field command so he is lacking there.

The only American General I can think of that had both field skills and headquarters skills are Ulysses S. Grant. Other Union generals were as great in the field. Sherman and Sheridan were like Patton. Tell them to destroy the enemy and they did it. However, only Grant had the political skills to deal with the DC bureaucracy and the powerful incompetent officers in the Union Army who couldn't be fired.

Grant was the only general who Abraham Lincoln 100 % trusted. When the backstabbers came to Lincoln to get Grant fired for his drinking, Lincoln said, find out what kind of Whiskey he drinks and I will send some to my other generals. When they kept complaining, Lincoln said, I can't spare this man, he fights.

Not being prepared for Pearl Harbor. Actually the Japanese didn't think up such an attack themselves. Torpedo plane attacks of that kind in a shallow harbor were considered impossible. The British proved the concept in an attack on the Italian Fleet in the Mediterranean. The Japanese were the only ones who took notice. There were warnings, but again everyone thought Pearl Harbor was too shallow for such an attack.

I saw a documentary on a British double agent who allegedly was the model for James Bond. He found evidence of Japan requesting information from German Intelligence on the British attack of the Italian Fleet. He reasoned that the Japanese were planning to attack Pearly Harbor. In the Documentary he told J. Edgar Hoover, but Hoover dismissed him. I don't know if that is true, but it made for good TV.

Look up Billy Mitchal. He was an army officer that had advocated for the US Army to build up US air power back in the 1920s. When he was asked for his reasons he explained that he believed that Pearl Harbor would one day be attacked by planes being flown off of ships at sea. The Army thought he was nuts. He was court marshaled by the Army after he openly announced to news papers that he thought it would be an attack by the Japanese, and that is why he was court marshaled. Hollywood even made a movie about him years after it occurred and he was exonerated.

George S. Patton was a great field general. However, he could not ever be a Commander in Chief because he had no political skills. Eisenhower was a good Commander in Chief because the job required that. Keeping FDR, Churchill, Patton, and Montgomery on the same page took a special kind of diplomat. As far as I know Eisenhower never had a major field command so he is lacking there.

The only American General I can think of that had both field skills and headquarters skills is Ulysses S. Grant. Other Union Generals were as great in the field. Sherman and Sheridan were like Patton. Tell them to destroy the enemy and they did it. However, only Grant had the political skills to deal with the DC bureaucracy and the powerful incompetent officers in the Union Army who couldn't be fired.

Grant was the only general who Abraham Lincoln 100 % trusted. When the back stabbers came to Lincoln to get Grant fired for his drinking, Lincoln said, find out what kind of Whiskey he drinks and I will send some to my other generals. When they kept complaining, Lincoln said, I can't spare this man, he fights.

Look up Billy Mitchal. He was an army officer that had advocated for the US Army to build up US air power back in the 1920s. When he was asked for his reasons he explained that he believed that Pearl Harbor would one day be attacked by planes being flown off of ships at sea. The Army thought he was nuts. He was court marshaled by the Army after he openly announced to news papers that he thought it would be an attack by the Japanese, and that is why he was court marshaled. Hollywood even made a movie about him years after it occurred and he was exonerated.