I think we call rule out Simon Boliver Buckner II. He was in charge of Alaska/Aleutions during WWII...
I lived in the Aleutians (Adak) for 2 years; great place from which to track Soviet subs.
While there, I read up on the Aleutian campaign and, like you, came away less than impressed by Buckner. He didn't seem to play very well with others (such as the Navy.) Like you said, the Attu and Kiska ops were a real SNAFU. It probably would have made more military sense to leave the Japanese detachments on those islands while making the occasional air attack on them AND cutting off their (surface) supply lines. (Subs couldn't carry enough to really help much AND use of subs for resupply would take them away from areas where they could be of better use.)
Anyways, I'll throw in my vote for George S. Patton. Born in California (like me...although he was a
Southern Californian), went to VMI one year before he entered West Point. Was an Olympian (placed 5th in the first modern pentathlon), had one heck of a military career, and even was the subject of an awesome Academy-Award-winning movie. Regarding his Confederate lineage, it was impeccable, to say the least:
Patton's paternal grandparents were
Colonel George Smith Patton and
Susan Thornton Glassell. His grandfather, born in
Fredericksburg, Virginia, graduated from
Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Class of 1852, second in a class of 24. After graduation, George Smith Patton studied law and practiced in
Charleston, Virginia (now
West Virginia). When the
American Civil War broke out, he served in the 22nd Virginia Infantry of the
Confederate States of America. Colonel George S. Patton, his grandfather, was killed during the
Battle of Opequon. The Confederate Congress had promoted Colonel Patton to brigadier general; however, at the time, he had already died of battle wounds, so that promotion was never official.