What Is Harry S Truman's Decision To Drop The Atomic Bomb

Harry S. Truman and His Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb Harry S. Truman once said, “Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you.” In World War II, that is exactly what he did. While Japan was breaking treaties and fighting with allied countries, the United States was developing a powerful weapon that would cripple Japan and end World War II. This weapon was called the atomic bomb. After it was fully developed and tested, Harry S. Truman made the decision to drop this deadly weapon on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. President Harry S. Truman was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Japan because he saved American lives, crippled Japan's remaining resource cities, forcing them to surrender, and established dominance as a world power. During a meeting in June of 1945, Truman met with Henry Stimson, Secretary of War, and Admiral William Leahy. They

It seemed as though asking Japan to surrender only prompted them to prolong the war. As a result, there was an increase in U.S. casualties. It was too late into the war for Truman to change the Japanese opinion on unconditional surrender. He stressed that, “The longer the war lasts, the greater will be the suffering and hardships which the people of Japan will undergo-all in vain. Our blows will not cease until the Japanese military and naval sources lay down their arms in unconditional surrender” (Wolk, “Sixty-Five Years On..”, 11). Truman was always concerned with American casualties; he knew that the United States had to keep fighting, but the loss of American life was becoming too great. On August seventh, 1945, Truman received a telegram from Richard Russell, the senator of Georgia. Within the telegram, Russell argues that it is extremely important that the United States brings the Japanese “groveling to their knees” (Russell 4) after what they did to