Patton Relieved of Command of Third Army

Patton faced questions from the press about his reluctance to denazify post-war Germany, noting that most of the people with experience in infrastructure management had been compelled to join the party during the war. He compared Nazis to Democrats and Republicans, which brought negative press stateside and angered Eisenhower. Eisenhower ordered him to hold a press conference to correct his statements, but Patton instead repeated them. Consequently, Eisenhower relieved him of his military governorship and command of the Third Army on 7 October 1945. Patton concluded his farewell remarks by saying, 'All good things must come to an end. The best thing that has ever happened to me thus far is the honor and privilege of having commanded the Third Army.' According to Anthony Cave Brown in 'Bodyguard of Lies,' Patton was relieved of command of the 3rd Army by Eisenhower just after the end of the war for stating publicly that America had been fighting the wrong enemy—Germany instead of Russia.