Truman's Decision
A Reason for Truman's Decision The decision made by Harry Truman to drop the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, on August 6th 1945, is one of the most controversial issues in American history. Although many Japanese soldiers and civilians died because of the decision to drop the bomb, many American soldiers were saved because of it. Many people who argue against the bombings talk about how much destruction was caused by the bomb. However it is important to look at the reason why Truman decided to drop the bomb. His decision to drop the bomb wasn't to gain victory over Japan or to only save American lives, but rather to intimidate the Soviet Union and demonstrate the power of the United States. America didn't need to drop the bomb in order to win the war over Japan. The decision to use the bomb was made by President Truman. There was never any doubt of that and despite a lot of criticism; Mr. Truman took full responsibility for his action. From the beginning of the war, the United States didn't even plan to drop the bomb. They were planning an intensified sea and air blockade and strategic air bombing. After a while, Japan was in really bad shape. Most Americans believed that they didn't e
The atomic bomb was the most powerful weapon ever made, and America's having control over it proved that they had the edge over any other military in the world. Truman explained, "People were confused, the have never seen anything like it. This shows that the use for the bomb must have been for another reason than to just wipe out the Japanese people. He concluded his speech by saying that he would "destroy Japan's power" to show how that he was determined. Even though they were allies in the war, America did not fully trust the Russians and wanted to make sure that they wouldn't try anything sneaky. The bomb was so big that it scared many Americans. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us" (Print Document 8). Among them, 140,000 people were estimated to have died by the end of December 1945. The devastating effects of both kinds of bombs depended essentially upon the energy released at the moment of the explosion, causing immediate fires, destructive blast pressures, and extreme local radiation exposures. In this quote Truman uses the word it to represent the atomic bomb. He shows how the whole idea of creating the bomb was a race or even a competition. Many Americans were baffled by the impact a single bomb could have. This was recorded right after the first bomb was dropped.
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