GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- While many military historians would disagree with the order in which the public ranks the three greatest American military generals of all time, they probably would agree that the three leaders mentioned most frequently by the American public all deserve special praise for their military accomplishments. According to a recent Gallup poll, 17% of Americans cited George S. Patton Jr., the flamboyant, aggressive armor leader in World War II -- whose most lasting impression may well be the face-slap he administered to one of his hospitalized soldiers in 1943 -- as the greatest American military general of all time. Another 14% say the greatest general was Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe who directed the World War II invasion of Normandy that eventually led to the defeat of Germany, and who was later elected president for two terms. In a close third place, cited as the greatest by 12% of the public, is Douglas MacArthur, a Medal of Honor winner, the youngest American general in World War I, the Pacific Area commander in World War II who helped bring about the defeat of Japan, and the United Nations Supreme Commander in the Korean War, whose landing at Inchon behind enemy lines is considered one of the most brilliant military maneuvers in history. Other generals named by the public include Colin Powell (mentioned by 9%), George Washington (8%), Norman Schwarzkopf (7%), Robert E. Lee (3%), Ulysses S. Grant (2%) and Omar Bradley (1%).
An analysis of the responses from the public shows major differences in ratings among the generations. Older Americans, who were born before the beginning of World War II and were alive when the generals were in action, cite Eisenhower (35%) as the greatest general, followed by MacArthur (18%), and then Patton (9%), with George Washington coming in a distant fourth place (6%). By contrast, the youngest adult Americans, whose "top-of-mind" reflections apparently led them to name the generals they had most recently heard or studied about, show a virtual tie for the greatest general between Colin Powell (14%), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Persian Gulf War, and George Washington (13%), the "father" and first president of this country. Eight percent of young Americans also mention the Persian Gulf War commander, Norman Schwarzkopf, while 6% each mention MacArthur and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.
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Who would you say was the greatest American military general of all time? [Open-ended] 2000 Nov 13-15 |
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|
Generals |
Overall (%) |
Age |
|||
|
18-29 (%) |
30-49 (%) |
50-64 (%) |
65+ (%) |
||
|
George Patton |
17 |
4 |
26 |
17 |
9 |
|
Dwight D. Eisenhower |
14 |
4 |
5 |
26 |
35 |
|
Douglas MacArthur |
12 |
6 |
11 |
14 |
18 |
|
Colin Powell |
9 |
14 |
11 |
6 |
4 |
|
George Washington |
8 |
13 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
|
Norman Schwarzkopf |
7 |
8 |
9 |
4 |
3 |
|
Robert E. Lee |
3 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
Ulysses S. Grant |
2 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Omar Bradley |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Other |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
|
None |
2 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
No opinion |
21 |
32 |
22 |
15 |
12 |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
The Academy Award-winning movie "Patton," starring George C. Scott, was released in 1970, and a few years ago was named by the American Film Institute as one of the best 100 American movies of all time. A glance at the accompanying table shows that this movie could well have influenced the perceptions of Americans who were of moviegoing age when the film was popular. Americans under 30 were not born when the movie was released, and only 4% of that group mention Patton as the greatest general. But those who were in their teenage years and younger when the movie was popular (now aged 30-49) give General Patton the highest rating (26%), and the next oldest generation of Americans (50-64) rank Patton second, as he is mentioned by 17% of that group. However, only 9% of the oldest Americans rate Patton as the greatest, just half the number who give that rating to MacArthur and a quarter of the number who rate Eisenhower the best, suggesting these older Americans were less influenced by the movie than by what they read and heard while the generals were in command.
Many military historians would probably rank MacArthur ahead of either Eisenhower or Patton, and would likely rate several other World War II generals at least as highly as Patton, to include George C. Marshall, one of the most esteemed soldier-statesmen in America's history, who served as Chief of Staff of the Army during World War II and later served separate terms as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense; and Omar Bradley, one of the most successful generals in the war, who commanded the largest force ever led by an American general and then later served as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lee and Grant would also likely be rated much higher by military historians than what the public remembers, along with several other Civil War generals, such as Stonewall Jackson, JEB Stuart, and William Tecumseh Sherman -- none of whom was mentioned by the public.
Survey Methods
Results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a representative sample of adults across the country. The sample size includes -- 1,028 -- adults, aged 18 and over. The poll was conducted November 13-15, 2000. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points.
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
