President Truman and the First Atomic Bomb Essay

As World War II was coming to an end during 1945, the creation of one of the most destructive weapons known to humanity occurred within the United States. This weapon, known as “the atomic bomb,” was used on the two Japanese cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in a death toll unprecedented by any military weapon used before and an immediate, unconditional surrender. Some historians believe President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb in order to intimidate the Soviet Union whereas others believe it was a strictly military measure designed to force Japan’s unconditional surrender. In the Report of a Scientific Panel of nuclear physicists, some scientific colleagues believed the atomic bomb was a “purely technical

The dropping of the Atomic Bomb changed not only warfare forever, but also all international relations. With that being said, the decision to do so was one of the biggest decisions made by any government in the history of time. Nuclear warfare was way more destructive and way faster than any other form of warfare preceding. With the United States seemingly always viewed to be “the good guys” it is puzzling that this country is the same one who killed hundreds of thousands of people all at once and essentially ruined not one but two entire cities within minutes of dropping two single bombs. This decision was not taken lightly, and with basically two schools of thought, liberalism vs. realism, insisting to do so or not to do so, and realism won out. Realism and the many counterparts that strengthen this school of thought is what drove the decision to go ahead and drop the atomic bomb.

During World War II the war in Europe ended after the unconditional German surrender at General Eisenhower's Headquarters in Reims, France, May 7, 1945. "After the unconditional German surrender in Europe the war shifted to Asia and the Pacific. As the war continued against Japan the Allied forces captured islands such as Iwo Jima and Okinaawa close to Japan brought the Japanese homeland within range of naval and air attacks." (Dannen) On August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima was the target of the first atomic bomb used against civil population in history. On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki. In total,

Imagine yourself making the toughest decision in your life, whether sacrificing a million of our men and thousands of war ships and plans, verses several thousand of Japanese civilian populists. This decision was on the shoulder of Harry S. Truman, the United States President, who had to make this decision by deciding whether or not to drop a newly designed weapon. The atomic bomb was tested in the sands of New Mexico, where it proved to be very successful. Harry S. Truman made a very successful decision, because he wanted to end the war quickly, show others that the United States had power, and the retribution of Pearl Harbor.

Webster’s dictionary defines hindsight as “the ability to understand, after something has happened, what should have been done or what caused the event”. It is a fair assumption that most people understand the old adage “hindsight is always 20/20”; alluding to the fact that, in our everyday lives, we as humans make decisions based on what we know, what seems right and occasionally what makes our lives easier. The average person does not have the mental capability to consider every possible outcome that a choice will have on his entire life, all within the thought process that leads him to reach a conclusion, however long and detailed that process may be. If we add massive amounts of pressure, contradictory advisement, the lives of

” No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.” A quote from President Franklin Roosevelt December 8, 1941 speech to Congress, declaring war on Japan. By the summer of 1945, 3 years after the Declaration of War on Japan began, intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy in ruins. Americans captured Okinawa, a Japanese island from which the Allies used to launch invasions off the main Japanese home islands.

Many debates have been provoked based on President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The debate is not solely based on the bomb being dropped, but more on the actual necessity and intention of the bomb being dropped.

This uprising of sudden Japanese and fellow foreign allies could easily be expressed as a form of nationalism, where war could’ve ended in such a different and possibly more deadly and exterminate way. American examples of this possibility could include how we had relations with some countries in the Allied powers, like Great Britain where we helped them out with the Destroyers for Bases and the Cash and Carry as well. The Japanese could have offered concessions or other advantages to obtain new alliances in order to continue the war despite the prior surrender of its Axis allies, Germany and Italy. America needed to end the war in such a horrific manner as to avoid any possibility of further Japanese resistance. As stated by Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, “The face of war is the face death; death is an inevitable part of every order that a wartime leader gives,” (Doc

The war was coming to a victorious conclusion for the Allies. Germany had fallen, and it was only a matter of time until Japan would fall as well. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was at the forefront of the American war effort, and saw atomic weaponry as a way out of the most monumental war ever. As discussed in Cabell Phillips’ book, The Truman Presidency: The History of a Triumphant Succession, Stimson was once quoted as saying that the atomic bomb has “more effect on human affairs than the theory of Copernicus and the Law of Gravity” (55). Stimson, a defendant of dropping the bomb on Japan, felt that the world would never be the same. If the world would change after using atomic weapons, could it possibly have changed for

President Truman made the best decision he could have when he chose to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. When you ask any historian whether or not Truman was right to drop the atomic bomb, you’re asking one of the most debated questions among them. This may seem like it should have a simple yes or no answer, but if you look deeper than the surface level, you’ll see it’s a lot more complex than that. Some think he was wrong to drop the bomb, and morally he was. However when you put yourself in the shoes of a president protecting your country and look at the war from a political and strategic viewpoint, you begin to realize he was right for dropping the bomb.

During WW2 Truman, the United States President at the time, was asked to make one the toughest decision in History. Choosing between dropping an atomic bomb or invading are both choices that will result in a lot of deaths. The huge diffrence between the two was who died wether it be the Japanese with the bomb, or the American soldiers with the invasion. Trumans decision was supposed to end the war sooner, hence reducing the amount of agony,deaths, stress or any other negative effects that could result in the continous war. Truman's decision on dropping the Atomic Bomb's was an efficient course of action for the Americans, but was deffinantly not the most educated decision. If I had been placed in Truman's shoes and had to make this

World War Two and the Atomic Bomb World War II is one of the most historic points in the history of the world. The war was by far the most devastating in the history of the world. There were many controversial actions during the war, but one of the biggest was the decision by the United States to drop atomic bombs. The atomic bomb should have been used to end the war because it saved more lives than continuing the war. The official bombing order was signed on July 25, 1945, by Thos.

World War II had lasted for more than six years. Our allied countries were suffering and taking huge casualties in both the Eastern and Western front. Although Germany and Italy have already surrendered, the attack on Normandy, known as D-Day, took thousands of our American lives. It proved that the war must come to a halt. Continuing to attack Japan would only create more casualties for the U.S. and our allies. Therefore, despite the thousands of people who were killed when the atomic bombs were dropped, it was vital, necessary, and perhaps the most efficient way to force Japan to surrender.

Conservative estimates have said that a million lives could have been lost had the US launched a full assault on the Japanese home islands. Strictly looking at the numbers, dropping the atomic bombs saved nearly a million lives. Also, Imperial Japanese forces controlled hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Indonesian people in 1945. On average, about 10,000 civilians and POWs under Japanese rule were killed every week the war continued. Not only were the bombs dropped to save the lives of those American soldiers that were invading the Japanese homeland, but it also saved the lives of innocent civilians in mainland Asia who were suffering under Japanese rule. In addition to these innocent civilians, by the end of the war, Japanese military leaders were training civilians to fight. It was the Japanese belief that despite the lack of military training, these civilians, often women, would overcome American soldiers with their “Japanese spirit”. These soldiers would have stood no chance against a well trained American Marine, especially a Marine who had just fought at Peleliu and Okinawa. Marines who had fought in these previous battles would have been so mentally and physically fatigued that the difference between civilian and soldier would have been indistinguishable. These “trained” Japanese civilians would have been annihilated by US soldiers. The mental effects

The battle of Okinawa was the deadliest battle fought in the Pacific during world war 2. There were 287,000 troops in the US tenth army and 130,000 in the Japanese thirty-second army. By the end of the fierce 82 days of all in warfare, the Allies ended up with Okinawa. Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies lost more than 14,000. Japanese forces ordered mass air attacks by planes on a one way “suicide mission”, These missions are called Kamikaze attacks. These attacks were super effective and sunk 47 American ships, and damaged more than 300 others. More than 3,000 Japanese soldiers volunteered.