Truman's Decisions Before Dropping The Atomic Bomb

Truman’s primary goal as the President of the United States was to first and foremost save the lives of numerous Americans. As stated in Document I, “Truman believed it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives.” He’s willing to take any action in order to better protect America from countries that

In World War II, President Truman had to decide whether to use a powerful new weapon called the atomic bomb. This decision is still being debated today. Truman made the right choice to drop the atomic bombs because it helped end the war faster and saved lives in the long run (Document E). One reason is that the president said using the bomb would end the war quicker and save lives. If they didn't use the bomb then the U.S. had to invade Japan, it could cost up to a million American lives (Document D)

Atomic Bomb DBQ When it happened, it was August 6, 1945. At Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs. The people that were involved were Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and Truman. The reason it happened was that Truman was getting revenge because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

Name: Christian Hurtado Period:5. DBQ Prompt: Did President Harry Truman make the right decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II? Write your essay in the space below During the historical period of World War I, which lasted from 1939 to 1945, significant advancements were made in military technology that changed the history of weaponry. One of the most notable developments during this time was the creation of a nuclear bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. This top-secret project, led by the United States, aimed to develop a powerful weapon that would help put the war to an end decisively.

Initially, the bombs were created as a defense mechanism but Truman was unprepared for a presidential role when he unexpectedly replaced Roosevelt. Before Truman made the initial choice to drop “Little Boy,” Japan was severely close to surrendering to the United States. “The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons…” (Doc 2) Admiral William D. Leahy was against the dropping of the atomic bomb because of the overall success of United States troops.

The citizens of the United States of America need to support President Truman in this decision. It should be understand that these measures are necessary to protect the lives of American citizens and soldiers. America has only one shot at taking down Japan, so the job needs to be done in the most advantageous way possible. Time is running out and President Truman needs to authorize the use of the atomic bomb immediately. The United States of America’s citizens, soldiers, and reputation lies in his

Few events in world history have made a global impact on humanity as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The decision to drop the bombs made by Harry S. Truman, the newly sworn in commander-in-chief after the death of Franklin Roosevelt, has been one scrutinized not only for the destruction of the act, but also in itself for the actual motive of the decision. Was the decision to use the Atomic Bombs one to quickly end the war to save American lives, or did Truman do his best to prevent Soviet influence in East Asia, to try and scare the Soviet Union from making any kind of territorial claims in Japan? Because there is ample evidence for both points of view, it's impossible to declare one to be the case. While both sides have good evidence, it's likely Truman made his decisions not only to end the war quickly, but to also avoid massive casualties on both sides, and to intimidate the Soviets. This was the genius of Truman's actions, it was able to end the war that was destroying the globe's nations for nearly six years, while also preventing another war from occurring in the future, and to keep peace in the process. As far as today, there has been no atomic warfare

When Truman was sworn in as president World War Two was just about over due to Hitler committing suicide and Germany’s surrender. Although Germany had surrendered and the war with them was over, the war with Japan was further away from the end (“Foreign Affairs”). Military planners estimated that the war with Japan would call for an allied invasion of Japan and would take at least another year and cost at least another 200,000 American casualties. When Truman learned of the success of the testing of the atomic bomb in Potsdam the idea of possibly ending the war sooner grew on him. He decided he would use the threat of an atomic bomb to persuade Japan to surrender, but Japan

President Truman was informed about the Manhattan Project after he became President. Once, the success of the project was secure, the United States has the capacity to end the war with Japan is in our hands. President Truman’s primary goal is “to win a complete victory and to keep the U.S. casualties to a minimum” (Walker 50). Japan on the other hand is not willing to surrender without a fight, even though American forces took over Okinawa and Iwo Jima and were continuously bombing Japanese cities. Japan has denied unconditional surrender, although the refusal is certain to result in total destruction. Thus, President Truman should be advised towards the use of the atomic bomb to quickly bring an end to the

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,

This thought brings me to my next motive of why Truman might have dropped the bomb. I do not think Truman was unaware of the lasting effects of the atom bomb, but by the time these facts were presented to him, piled upon facts about the actual bomb and the projects supporting them, it was to late to change his decision. He needed to save face for America (which brings me to the next motive of pressure) even if it public opinion was not his main concern. Truman did not want to look soft upon the Japanese, something further consideration and negation of the plan to bomb would have caused in some officials eye's. Also, Truman and much of the rest of the nation did not like seeing the U.S. as moral failures like many other nations. Who knows what the reaction to the President's decision would have been like if he had decided to let an invasion with hundreds and thousands of our men involved take place.

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

By avoiding a highly questionable land invasion, the bomb saved “half a million” American lives. In his personal diary, Truman wrote, “General Marshall told me that it might cost half a million American lives to force the enemy’s surrender on his home grounds.” This estimate was based on previous battle figures at Okinawa, where Americans suffered 50,000 casualties despite outnumbering the Japanese by two and a half to one.

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.

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.