More handpicked essays just for you.
Truman decision to drop the atomic bomb
Truman's decision to drop the bomb
Marshall Truman and the decision to drop the bomb
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Truman decision to drop the atomic bomb
Halima Bath December 8, 2016 Extra Credit President Truman’s announcement of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the experience of fourteen year old Akihiro Takahashi show different insights and viewpoints on the beginning of World War II. While some Americans praised President Truman’s actions, an abundant amount of innocent people were killed as a result of the dropping of the atomic bomb. President Truman explained the reasoning behind this action with which the American people agreed. He said that because “the Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor” and because “their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum,” the Japanese would regret invading the United States. As a consequence, President Truman believed that
According to document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty to protect and save American lives And that's exactly what he did. If we did not go through with the atomic bomb, then we would have had to get Japan to surrender another way, yeah we could have put up an economic blockade and continuously bombed them like Admiral William Leahy wanted to do in in document A. Or we could have invaded and lost many more lives in the process, the war would have dragged on costing more American lives and more money for the United States.
The quicker the war ended, the less casualties Americans would suffer. Second, he sought to justify the money and effort that was put into the Manhattan Project. If he did not use the bomb, people would blame him for the lives lost towards the end of the war because he withheld such a powerful weapon. Third, using the bomb would impress the Soviets, make them more subordinate to American desires, and improve overall relations with them. Fourth, Truman realized he lacked reasons to avoid using the bomb. In the military, diplomatic, and political sense, the bomb was the best route. Morality would be the only issue, but these were not a major preventive. Lastly, Truman claimed the Japanese were like a beast and the only way to deal with them was to treat them like a beast. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, hatred had been built up against the Japanese. This hate diminished any hesitation Truman may have experienced in his decision to drop the
...d by widespread hysteria and hostility between the two superpowers. The United States’ role as a peacemaker was forever challenged by the use of this weapon and for the rest of his time as president, Truman would fight to stop the spread of communism and the greatest fear of the succeeding presidents was the outbreak of nuclear war. The decision Truman chose changed the course of world history. From a moral standpoint, the loss of innocent lives is never fair. The tremendous cost of using this weapon was the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians from the immediate and long-term effects of bombs. Despite the moral arguments against this choice, this was the best one for the American cause. Truman’s obligation was first to the American people and as commander-in-chief, he made the decision he believed to best for his constituents.
The first reason on why Truman made the right decision was because the atomic bomb ultimately helped to prevent the deaths of American troops. There would have been over 100,000 losses during the first stage of the attack against Japan, leading to over one million casualties of just Americans during the defeat of Japan(Tucker 1). Although there is no way to confirm the amount of predicted deaths, any amount of American deaths would have been avoided with the use of the atomic bomb. Comparing a million predicted deaths of Americans to the 140,000 (±10,000) that were actually killed in the Hiroshima bomb(Faragher 4), the decision implementing the bomb was executed in the correct way.
In August of 1945, both of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in warfare were dropped on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These two bombs shaped much of the world today.
At that point in time, America was at a crossroads. They hit a dead end and the only logical way to get out was to use the bombs. If people tried to put themselves in Truman’s position, they would question and rethink their opinion almost instantly. In an article titled “Atomic Bomb: Why did President Harry S Truman Order the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?” it states, “as Chief Executive of the United States it was his duty to make every effort to end World War II” in order to justify Truman’s stance on the
President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the direct cause for the end of World War II in the Pacific. The United States felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on these two cities or it would suffer more casualties. Not only could the lives of many soldiers have been taken, but possibly the lives of many innocent Americans. The United States will always try to avoid the loss of American civilians at all costs, even if that means taking lives of another countries innocent civilians.
There were many arguments and factors as to if Truman decided correctly and if the United States should have dropped the bombs. There were many disputes supporting the bombing. Some being the Japanese were warned early enough, it shortened the war, and it saved many Americans lives. There are also voluminous quarrels against the United States bombing the Japanese. Some of these are the bombing killed innocent Japanese civilians who did not deserve it, the Japanese was about to surrender before we bombed them, and the United States only blasted the Japanese because of racism toward them. Though there are many valid reasons for and against the bombing, there is still much controversy today whether president Truman made the right decision.
The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan were ethical decisions made by President Harry Truman and the United States government. By the time of the atom bomb was ready, the U.S. had been engaged in military conflict for over four years and lost over 400,000 soldiers. Truman claimed, "We would have the opportunity to bring the world into a pattern in which the peace of the world and our civilization can be saved" (Winkler 18). The bomb was aimed at ending the war immediately and avoiding prolonged battle in the Pacific Theater and the inevitable invasion of Japan. President Truman hoped that by showing the Japanese the devastating weapon the U.S. possessed, that the war could be brought ...
...ople and would fight to protect every inch of their homeland until there were no Japanese left. The logic of Truman and many Americans was to swiftly end the war while the means to do it were available, and this was one of the main driving forces behind the decision to drop the bomb.
Truman had thought through the possibilities and had decided that using the bomb would be the most effective and quickest tactic. As a president Truman had a responsibility to protect his country, citizens, and foreign affairs, so deciding on the best method to establish everybody’s needs was difficult. There were many things to worry about: fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, bombing Japan, and building the bomb. His decision was mainly based on how the US citizens felt and the following actions of japan. Japan refused to accept an unconditional surrender, which was demanded by the allied powers in order to stop the war against them. On August 6, 1945 Truman allowed Enola Gay to drop the atomic bomb on top of Hiroshima and later Nagasaki to end the war.
Upon reading “Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan” by J. Samuel Walker, a reader will have a clear understanding of both sides of the controversy surrounding Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The controversy remains of whether or not atomic bombs should have been used during the war. After studying this text, it is clear that the first atomic bomb, which was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, was a necessary military tactic on ending the war. The second bomb, which was dropped on Nagasaki, however, was an unnecessary measure in ensuring a surrender from the Japanese, and was only used to seek revenge.
Japan: The Only Victim of The Atomic Bomb Japan will never forget the day of August 6 and 9 in 1945; we became the only victim of the atomic bombs in the world. When the atomic bombs were dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was World War II. The decision to drop the atomic bombs was affected by different backgrounds such as the Manhattan Project, and the Pacific War. At Hiroshima City, the population of Hiroshima was 350,000 when the atomic bomb dropped. Also, the population of Nagasaki was around 250,000 ("Overview.").
There were a few reasons why the United States dropped the bombs. As Phillip Goodman points out, President Truman was under tremendous pressure from several sources. One source of pressure was his military advisors, who thought that an invasion of Japan would be too costly. A second source of pressure was domestic in nature. In particular, President Truman was under tremendous pressure to please the public because he was up for re-election. In addition to this pressure, there was a hatred for the Japanese, political problems that the U.S. had with Russia,(Doug Long),and the revenge that Americans wanted for the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, the city had already awoken; kids walking to school, adults going to work, others eating breakfast going along with their normal daily lives on that exact moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima. A tremendous flash of light occurred with such powerful force that it spread throughout the city like a sheet of sun, which caused the catastrophic flames from hell to immerse. Their flesh burned, incinerating 66,000 people instantly leaving others helpless and in undesirable pain. This monstrous act ordered by President Truman not only caused these innocent people instant physical pain, it exploit them to a lifetime of horrendous diseases like birth