Patton wasn’t an attention seeker, he just got a lot of attention because he had a lively sense of humor and a smart mouth. As a consequence, Bradley was more to Ike’s liking than was Patton.
In “A Soldier’s Story” Bradley noted that he went along with SHAEF’s official line that there wasn’t anything brewing ahead of The Bulge, and still thought that it was the right line to take, which shows how over his head he was. He got his fourth star because Patton had to receive one for what he’d accomplished, and he couldn’t be outranked by someone he commanded.
You might find this paper by Nathan Jones interesting; I see some similarity in Trump and Patton’s persona in some of this. Chapter 2 is where to begin-
“In need of a hero? The creation and use of the legend of General George S. Patton, Jr.”
“The Patton legend began with Patton himself. He carefully crafted an iconic brand over the course of his career, fashioning himself after classical military heroes. His personal brand was flamboyant, easily recognizable, and audacious. As told by Patton’s personal secretary, “Patton went to war with the shining paraphernalia of the born martinet; with helmet polished, his four stars aglow,” and his “pearly pistols displayed for all to see.”
“It encompassed everything from his dress to his mannerisms, including a constantly practiced “war face” to mask his self-perceived weak jawline and the use of crass language to cover his high-pitched voice with its hint of a Southern aristocratic accent.”
“Private Joseph Rosevich, to whom Patton dictated nearly every piece of correspondence over the course of World War II, related the development of the infamous “Blood and Guts” speech.
Rosevich was “dazed by the contrast between the contents of the speech and the cultured, quiet poise of the man who created it,” a man he described more as an intellectual who reminded him of President Woodrow Wilson.
Patton explained to Rosevich that the performance he and others witnessed was exactly that: a performance, a “put-up show, a calculated and rehearsed act of bravado” that Patton viewed as a necessity to toughen up a generation of soft and carefree American men.
“For the last twenty years,” Patton complained, “our boys have been subjected to a steady diet of pacifist talk and doctrine. Now all of a sudden these ‘pacifists’ have to be turned into soldiers thirsting to kill the skilled, battle tested soldiers of a shrewd enemy.”
Finding himself in a “perfectly ridiculous” situation in which Patton felt he must shock these men out of their mental habits, he opted to use the crude vernacular of the common soldier in his speeches to accompany his crafted image.