How Did Truman Use The Atomic Bomb Dbq

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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). …show more content…

But as a regard to the multiple trials that took place in New Mexico, what came of it was that President Truman became aware of what massive casualties would come from dropping those bombs. President Truman stated in document A that “he regarded the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubts that it should be used.” Looking back now, Truman knew what could come from the dropping but yet he still did and ending up picking a location where the biggest casualty could come from. The atomic bombs should have only been reserved for a last resort situation, what should have happened was Admiral Leahy’s idea. Yes, it did put an end to the war but it also started one as well. So, ultimately I believe Truman was not justified due to the fact that there were many more solutions to the