Prompt And Utter Destruction Summary

One of the most controversial and heavily scrutinized issue of the twentieth century was President Harry S. Truman’s decision to unleash atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The motives behind Truman’s actions are shrouded in controversy as top military officials publicly denounced the use of such a disastrous weapon. There is overwhelming evidence supporting both sides of the decision, as historians are split in opinion. The United States had been using conventional bombing to try to push Japan over the edge to surrender, but with countless Japanese civilians loyal to their country, invading Japan proved to be more problematic than first thought. Harry S. Truman made the ultimate decision of dropping the atomic bomb in hopes that it would end the war, but the amount of casualties caused by it has historians questioning if it was morally right, “The bomb was unfortunate, but it was the only means to bring Japan to a surrender,” historian Sadao Asada states (Bomb 9). Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justifiable because they would ultimately lead to the end of the war and would demonstrate U.S. supremacy.

On August 5th, 1945 the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber flew over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and released the most destructive weapon known to mankind. Mere moments later the city was engulfed in a fireball that rose up into the sky. Thousands perished instantly and many more would die from severe exposure to radiation. Two days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki increasing the death toll to 120,000. The decision to drop nuclear weapons on Japan was made by the United States president Harry S. Truman. The decision to use these weapons has sparked controversy over whether or not a justification exists for extinguishing the lives of innocent civilians. For President Truman the decision

The first option, invasion of Japan, was debated the heaviest. Truman, and several of his advisors, sighted the huge estimates of US casualties as the main reason for his hesitancy to proceed with bombing, blockades and ground attacks. In the excerpt of Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of the Atomic Bomb against Japan, J. Samuel Walker argues that “even without the use of the atomic bombs, the war would probably have ended before the American invasion of Kyushu became necessary” (p. 277). He predicted that the destruction,

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.

While Truman himself stated in an August 1945 radio address and further emphasized in his 1955 memoirs that the atomic bombs were dropped in order to “shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans” (Doc H), historians and government officials are split on the issue of the true motivations behind dropping the a-bombs. However, given his sour relationship with Stalin, it is clear that Truman intended the bomb to be used more than merely as an atomic weapon. When the Truman Administration made the decision to drop the atomic bombs, it was neither completely military or diplomatic. The decision was militaristic in that it tried to end the war with Japan in the most efficient manner possible, and was diplomatic in that it tried to prevent the Soviets from gaining too much

September 1, 1939, marked the beginning of World War II. The war was long fought involving the three axis powers and several allied powers. Among those were Japan and the United States following Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 (Praino, 2015). Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost amongst the battles from each side of the war. In 1939, Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi fled to America and informed the elected officials that Germany had discovered new outbreaks in splitting atoms, which was one step closer to the creation of destructive weapons for the Axis power. With that news, American facilities launched a program that would later be codenamed “The Manhattan Project” which was the birthplace of the first nuclear atomic reactions. After the first reaction was created, it was a vicious cycle from there that continued to escalate. With the war reaching an all-time high in casualties, Truman was faced with a big decision as the programs had finally experienced breakthroughs to the atomic bomb. He could choose to remain in conventional war tactics and continue to prolong the war until Japan was ready to surrender, or attempt to save the lives of many American soldiers and citizens by dropping the atomic bombs onto two major cities in Japan (Praino, 2015). By choosing the latter, an estimated 225,000 Japanese lives were lost (Perkins, 2016) and the ethical merits of Truman’s decision are still questioned today while some views remain confident in the choice.

On August 7, 1945 the headline of the front page of the New York Times read: First Atomic Bomb Dropped on Japan; Missile is Equal to 20,000 Tons of TNT: Truman Warns Foe of a “Rain of Ruin.”1 Now the debate between historians on the question of whether Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb was correct or not had begun.

The absolute terror of nuclear weapons and the substantial amount of death of the Japanese has forced many questions to be asked whether the U.S. should have decided to use these destructors against Japan, ending World War II. After more than seventy years after the event, the decision to drop the first atomic bomb continues to be widely debated. The primary focus for the U.S. was to win the war at the lowest possible cost. Truman was looking for the most effective way to end the war quickly, not for a way to prevent the use of

On August 6, 1945 President Truman made the biggest decision that would change many people’s lives forever, which was dropping the first atomic bomb on a city in Japan called Hiroshima. The atomic bomb had a code that only certain people from the U.S knew; the code name was called “little boy” (Hall). The atomic bomb caused a lot of damage to Japan, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people in that second that the bomb was dropped (WW2 People’s War). The atomic bomb affected many people’s lives in many ways. Many people believed that it was wrong that President Truman dropped the bomb because there could have been another way to fight back. President Truman was very indecisive to whether or not to drop the bomb on Japan. President Trumans, final decision was the only right thing to do because the atomic bomb had many benefits for the U.S. such as ending World War II, saving many people’s lives and showing what the United States was capable of.

During the long battle of WW2, we were all surprised by the death of our beloved president Roosevelt on April 12th. Quickly we had Truman come into office and within 12 days we asked him for this okay for dropping the bomb. Truman had known about the bomb before hand, but on April 25th Stimson and Truman had the official answer after thinking long and hard what the right decision would be. “Truman and Stimson immediately began to see the diplomatic implications of the bomb...” (2. Walter, “Interview Transcripts: The bomb”) They decided

Truman had several options presented from his Joint Chiefs of Staff. First option was the invasion of the Mainland of Japan, specifically Kyushu. (36) Second option was to continue bombing Japan’s infrastructure and food supply. (39) Third option was to wait on the till the Soviets acted upon their agreement and join the war against Japan. (41) Fourth option was to change the policy of unconditional surrender to allow Japan to keep Emperor Hirohito on his throne. (42) The final option Truman received the most attention after successful testing was to use the atomic bombs. (50)

To fully examine the factors that led to the United States to drop an atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, one can look at the event as a result of two major decisions. The first decision concerned the use of newly developed nuclear weapons in lieu of other military techniques to secure a timely Japanese surrender. The second decision was to use several of these weapons instead of only one. Although the Truman administration displayed little hesitation or ambivalence over the decision to use atomic weapons (Walker, 51), it is important to examine what factors contributed to these swift actions.

    There were six possible responses President Truman could have decided upon to solve this problem he faced. The first possible response was to drop the atomic bomb(s). This is response that President Truman decided upon. This decision was to drop an atomic bomb on a chosen Japanese city and if the Japanese still would not surrender, then a second atomic bomb would be dropped on a second chosen city. This is the best response to the problem of how the United States was supposed to force Japan to surrender unconditionally and end the war. The second possible response was to continue the bombing already happening, with the regular non-atomic bombs, which would then be followed by an invasion. This response was actually favoured by General Douglas MacArthur and other high up military commanders so much that the plan was given the codename “Operation

The twentieth century saw two World Wars, both with lasting effects, but World War II ended with the use of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was something the world had never experienced before and it was unimaginable. The atomic program started during President Roosevelt’s time in office but the decision to use it or not would fall on President Truman. In 1945, President Truman was faced with the harrowing decision to use the atomic bomb. This paper will explore President Truman’s decision and reasoning to use the atomic bomb while providing supporter and critic’s views.

Truman wanted to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, saying that it will end the war immediately. It was the easiest military decision he ever made. Truman was at least as much concerned with the role of the atomic bomb in the shaping of history as in its capacity to shorten the war. It would not only shorten the war, but also an early Japanese surrender would preclude Russian entry into the war, stopping the Soviets not only from participating in the occupation of Japan but also from advancing through China on the way. Admiral King said he wished to emphasize the point that, regardless of the desirability of the Russians entering the war, they were not indispensable and he did not think the Americans should go so far as to beg the Russians