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Pros And Cons Of Truman And The Use Of Atomic Bombs

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Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan is a book by J. Samuel Walker. He writes about the decision that Truman had to make during World War Two. The Decision that Truman had to make was whether or not the United States should use atomic bombs against Japan. The argument was that if the atomic bombs were used, then Japan would be forced to surrender. “Truman could have decided against it. But he had no compelling reason to do so. The bomb provided a promising way to bring about a prompt Japanese surrender without the disadvantages of other alternatives, and in Truman’s mind, its use did not require a lengthy consideration” (Walker pg. 96). After the bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people decided that the bombs were actually required. The people thought that if the bombs weren’t dropped, thousands of American lives would have died while America invaded Japan. The problem with this logic is that many people died in those bombings. More people died during the bombings than they would have if America invaded Japan. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki almost two-hundred thousand people were injured or killed. There are still people suffering the effects of the atomic bombs today. Many people that lived near the impact sites and survived have been entered into a radiation study. …show more content…

Japan was probably even considering drawing up a treaty to end the war. According to many articles online, Japanese diplomats tried to talk to United States diplomats to try to negotiate end-of-war terms. All Japan wanted was to keep their emperor on the throne. The attacks on Japan by atomic weapons was a mass murder of innocent civilians. At least Japan attacked military personnel with only a little over two thousand casualties. Many people believe that Truman decided to send the bombs just to punish Japan for even trying to attack the United States on American

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Truman’s Decision President Truman was justified in his decision to drop the atomic bombs in Japan. Truman faced many pros and cons of his decision, however, the pros outweighed the cons. There were very few alternatives to the extreme, the casualties in the Pacific were growing and the rate the war it would save lives. Although, there were many lives lost Truman made the right decision for his country.

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Name: Course Instructor: Class: Date: Critical Book Review: Prompt and Utter Destruction Introduction Within weeks, word on the US dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki began to spread that the main reason behind the bombs was to save the lives of Americans (Bernard). It was put that hundreds of thousands of American military causalities were saved through the bombings.

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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).

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1. Source B mentions that the reason for Truman dropping the bomb was to save American lives, but it was a speech to the nation. Source A transmits a completely different message. It mentions that “the end of Japanese war no longer depended upon the pouring in of [the Russian] armies.” They way this phrase is interpreted is that Truman dropped the bomb because he no longer wanted the help of the Soviets so he didn’t have to share the reward, which was Tokyo.

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"There was a very strong possibility that the Japanese government might choose to resist until the very end"(Doc B). The argument for dropping the atomic bomb is strong because Truman knew that the war was going to cost and last way more if he didn't just use the bombs to end the war with them. This shows that he had all the right to just stop this madness and end the war quickly, easily, and fast. He knew that Japan wasn't going to surrender most likey so he was sick of his troops dying for no

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President Harry Truman used of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan during the Second World War. It is viewed as one of the most controversial decisions in wartime history. It was a very difficult decision for President Truman, but it was truly necessary in order to end the six-year war. Being the President of the United States brings many duties and one of the most important duties as commander- in- chief is to protect the American citizens and soldiers that the President serves and in turn served the United States. There have been many that would argue that the bomb was used primarily as an act of vengeance toward Japan.

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The reason they say that Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs was so that they could try to get ahead of the Soviet Union. Gar Alperovitz is one of the most popular advocators for this reason. He stated that Truman dropped the bombs to demonstrate the power of America, and so that Russia could not enter the war to get new territorial acquisitions. If the Soviet Union was allowed to enter the war, then they could get some of the Japanese assets in China, which would have favored Russia greatly. Alperovitz’s conclusion was that Truman did this “to convince the Russians to accept the American plan for a stable peace”(Harry).

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The dropping of the bombs were necessary and fair due to the refusal of the Japanese to surrender, the millions of lives saved by a quick end to the war, and the warnings given to the Japanese. To begin, the Japanese soldiers have it ingrained in their brains that it is dishonorable to surrender. The author of Drop the Bomb as agreed by saying that “the Japanese have demonstrated a willingness to fight to the death”. During the war there were many times for the Japanese to surrender, but it was never done. With this in mind, they would have continued to drag out the war, which shows that dropping the bombs sped up the war which lessened the casualties.

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This albeit came with much thought as the implications from utilizing the weapon would come at great cost to opponent civilian lives. However, Truman made his hard decision as he weighed his option in terms of the amount of U.S soldiers it would take to invade Japan and end the war similarly to the D-Day invasion. The D-day invasion took a multitude of allied lives and the Japanese would show no fear to an invasion to their mainland as their loyalty to the emperor of Japan was unwavering. Coming to terms with the implications, Truman was prepared to win and at the right time as would reveal his good leadership qualities of high integrity and commitment to his people of the military and the general U.S

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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.

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This bomb saved many more lives including Japanese, and American. His decision to let this happen ended inhumane fighting all around the world, and saved countless lives. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and in this situation when a war is involved there is no time to linger, but instead come up with a plan that is beneficial. Japan should have been expecting a surrender sooner or later because this was war and they had to expect it. In an extremely reliable source it is stated, “ Nonetheless, I also believe that President Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bombs against Japan almost certainly saved lives.”

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626 Words | 3 Pages

I believe Truman was right in his actions of commencing the dropping of weapons of mass destruction against the Empire of Japan. While morally it may have been carried out in a better way, that's a debate for a different time. There are three reasons I would like to clarify to show why I believe it was the right decision. The Japanese did not believe in surrender.

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987 Words | 4 Pages

Truman stated that he based his decision on military effectiveness not economically. An amphibious assault invasion like the Normandy Landings would have cost an estimated million casualties. President Truman believed that the bombs saved Japanese lives as well. For Truman, dragging out the war was not an option (The Decision to Drop the Bomb.). The blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would cause 166,000 casualties in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki.

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863 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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President Truman and his associates believed that if they dropped the bomb they would receive surrender from Japan. Thus, saving millions of American lives, and ending the war. Nevertheless, by saving American lives they would sacrifice thousands of Japanese civilians. They had other idea to have Japan to surrender, but were willing to take the one that would have the most consequences. They were thinking too much about the US instead of creating actually peace within the nations.

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