More handpicked essays just for you.
Justification of atom bombs
President truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb
Harry s truman decision to drop atomic bombs
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
As stated in document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives. By making the decision to employ atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it successfully brought an end to World War II. Now, while these bombs did ultimately spare thousands of American lives, it did also put an end to about 200,000 lives as shown in document E. Document A stated that Admiral William Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed using the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately. He believed that an economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender. As an opposite end of the spectrum though Truman’s advisor, James Byrnes thought that the use of “the A-bombs would not only cause Japan to surrender, but also impress the Soviet Union, and hopefully stop its expansion” (Doc C).
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. made history with a fatal blow to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended WWII. To this day there is a controversy on whether the dropping of the atomic bomb, ordered by President Harry S. Truman, was justified or not, but in fact, it was. Thousands of Japanese would perish, but this act would, in turn, saved American lives and end the war. Throughout various battles, the Japanese consistently crossed lines of ethics of warfare, and in an attempt to bring justice and an end to the war Truman put forth a plan to bomb Japan. President Truman warned Japan of the upcoming attack and gave demands, but in the end, the Japanese denied those negotiations which led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Imagine being put in a predicament whereby you have to make a crucial decision, either by dropping bombs to save countless lives or to let the enemy proceed on brutally killing thousands more…What would you do? Quite frankly I feel that the answer is a “no brainer!” Harry Truman’s decision, the president of the US, on dropping atomic bombs upon Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified. Japan was the one who first attacked the American Pearl harbour, and up until this time America was completely neutral during the war.
Today, Many historians argue that America should not have dropped the bomb on Japan. People believe that is was morally incorrect for Americans to completely destroy two cities in Japan with many civilians. Even though dropping the atomic bombs was a violation of International Law, it was justified because it saved more lives than killed, it was the only way the Japanese would surrender and it made America more powerful. While the dropping of the bomb seems like it killed so many people, it actually saved more lives.
President Harry Truman was justified in dropping the atomic bomb since it saved millions of American lives by ending the war as soon as possible, and established the United States as the greatest country in the world. With the bomb, America could “attack those that have hurt [America]” and save many American lives (Truman, Doc A). As part as revenge for Pearl Harbor, America was able to redeem itself against Japan with this bomb. It would make a statement to the world and force an unconditional surrender from Japan, as fast as possible. That would end the war and potentially save millions of young American soldiers.
Truman and the A-bomb The drop of the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the following Japanese surrender on September 2nd was the way Truman and the United States ended the bloodiest war ever fought in history. Nowadays there is a lot of speculating on whether or not the president chose the best option by using doing so. Although there is still a strong moral controversy about the bombing, this writer’s opinion is that Truman made, after all, the best thing among his other options. Just saying that dropping the A-bomb was the right thing to do is not enough without the proper explanation.
Truman was the president of the United States at the time, so its obvious why he choose to drop the bomb. It would save more American lives this way. “It would have been morally wrong if we’d have had that weapon and did not use it and let a million more people die” (Doc L). If he didn’t drop it, about 400,000 to 800,000 American lives would have been lost (OI). If Japan couldn’t make war, there wouldn’t be war.
Harry S. Truman’s idea to drop the atomic bomb during World War II was a bad idea, it caused around 210,000 people to die and many of parts of their land and buildings were destroyed or ruined, it also had the scientists who made the bomb, ask the president to not use the weapon they had created and caused many after radiation effects. The after-effect of Harry S. Tuman’s plan to drop the atomic bomb was a bad idea because it caused the death of 210,000 people in only two bombs. There were multiple bombs during the war, and overall they killed way more people than the two bombs did overall. But statistically, the number of people who died during the bombings was far more than the number of people who would die during 5–6 bombings.
Truman and the Atomic Bomb Throughout history there have usually always been more than two sides to each event that has happened. After events occur, the stories of how and why it happened can get easily switched up and twisted. People may also question why a particular Historic figure decided to do an act that they did, and if it was the right thing to do. That is exactly what has happened with the dropping of the first atomic bomb, lead by President Harry Truman.
The Japanese were already on the verge of surrendering, so there was no point on dropping the bomb. Also, President Truman could have just shown an image or chart of the atomic bomb, rather than actually going through with the plan. These examples illustrate how the atomic bomb will always be a big controversy, but America was right for dropping the
Not only did they bring the Americans unwillingly into the war at Pearl Harbour, but the atrocities committed by the Japanese throughout wartime were horrific. The Alexandra Hospital Massacre for example, where the Japanese slaughtered majority of a hospital including those being operated on, or the Massacre of Manila, where two Japanese Generals disobeyed orders and made their men fight to the death in order to make a ‘final stand’. When the Americans arrived the Japanese started killing any civilians inside the city, a total of 100,000 civilians killed, a similar number to those killed in Hiroshima. Although most of Truman's decisions were based on facts, figures and politics, also taking the atrocities the Japanese committed into account, he knew full well the horrific consequences of the bomb. He states in a diary entry after the bomb; "Nobody is more disturbed over the use of Atomic bombs than I am but I was greatly disturbed over the unwarranted attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor and their murder of our prisoners of war.
In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.
The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki annihilated one fourth of a million Japanese people, the majority of whom were civilians. This horrifying and deplorable idea in history should have never crossed Harry Truman’s frontal lobe. Even though these were desperate times, these perverted and twisted actions are not justified by the circumstances. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were detestable and odious for reasons such as Japan was already compliant to a conditional surrender, the extinguishing of about 250,000 Japanese lives, and that one bomb was enough. One reason for why this was a heinous act is that it was unneeded.
However, the Japanese were committed to fight to the bitter end of the war and see it all the way through, regardless of the fact that the United States demanded unconditional surrender from the small country of islands. This further emphasizes that since the Japanese were not simply going to give up, Truman came to the conclusion that in order to save millions of lives, he had to take thousands. President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to warn the world about the new found power of the United States, force an unconditional surrender of the Japanese, and save millions of lives. With the controversy over whether or not Truman should have dropped the bomb, some consider the decision irrational and unnecessary.
President Truman was treating people even worst by putting them through the torture of the bomb and the resulting effects of the bomb. Time became a major factor into the decision, and dropping the bomb was a result of that fear. On the other side of the argument, the Japanese did bomb Pearl Harbor which was the catalyst that got America involved in the first place. We as a country should not need to compromise with the nation who started the battle.
