ipl-logo

Truman's Decisions During World War II

764 Words4 Pages

Dennise Rodriguez Mr. Armendariz U.S. History March 6 Atomic Bomb Essay During World War II, President Harry Truman was left with a major decision about ending the war with the Japanese. Truman was left with three decisions to execute the world's first atomic bomb in order to end the war. Truman's decision impacted the future of Japan; With his decisions, he decided to bomb Japan without warning to later "shock" Japan into surrendering, which was the only correct response to the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. President Harry Truman’s decision led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which resulted in thousands of deaths, but this led to the peace treaty between the U.S. and Japan in 1951. The U.S. had predicted Japan's shock of the bombing and figures of Japan were forced to yield. For example, Nagasaki and Hiroshima both had numerous deaths leading to withdrawal “Emperor Hirohito ordered his government to surrender”(Pacific Theater Fill-In Notes). The bombings also brought an …show more content…

with a speech called "The Day of Infamy.". This pivotal moment marked the United States’ entry into World War II, the day of infamy that memorialized the attack. “With confidence in our armed forces, with faith in our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph so help us God”(FDR Day of Infamy Speech). He demonstrated faith and hope for U.S. citizens to believe that they could defeat the war against Japan, although Roosevelt had passed away before the bomb was created Truman took upon his word and he used the bomb to retaliate against Japan. Both presidents similarity was to persevere with peace and hope for the country of the United States. With Roosevelt's mindset of morals of compassion towards the loss of many lives at Pearl Harbor, Truman took it against himself to gain victory by bombing Japan with this lethal weapon of mass

Show More
Related
642 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
301 Words | 2 Pages

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).

Read More
636 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
803 Words | 4 Pages

According to Truman’s memoir, he states “it should be used without specific warning” (Doc 2). This evidence shows that the U.S. used the atomic bombs without warning because of the way Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Since there was no warning, it harmed more people than Japan did in the Pearl Harbor attack. To summarize, the U.S. used the atomic bombs against Japan as an act of revenge for Pearl Harbor. This act of revenge harmed and destroyed many lives of the

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

Although he did approve of the bomb, Roosevelt was unconcerned about actually dropping the bomb on Japan. Instead he supported the idea that since Germany was possibly looking into the same type of destructive weapon, the U.S. needed to advance in the field in order to prevent detrimental attacks against them. He had the Great Depression on his hands as well and was less motivated during his time to destroy Japan to end the war more efficiently. On the other hand, Truman saw his opportunity of bringing the United States to the end of the war in a quick manner by releasing the bombs since Japan had no intentions of taking an easy surrender. To prevent going through an invasion, Truman made a hasty decision to drop the bombs.

Read More
645 Words | 3 Pages

Truman’s decision to bomb Japan was right for many reasons. One piece of evidence that shows Truman made the right decision is when Japan captured our American troops and kept them as prisoners, they beat and starved them and even went as far as executing them, he talks about this in his radio report to the American people. " against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war" (DocF). A second piece of evidence that shows Truman made the right decision is he was just trying to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. He talks about both of these pieces of evidence in his radio to the American people. "

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

US raids on Japan caused about 241,000 deaths, 313,000 wounded people, and approximately 2,333,000 homes to be destroyed. No supplies could be brought in and few industries still stood to help. (Doc B) Therefore, Japan was on the verge of surrender and the bombing was not the most

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
856 Words | 4 Pages

By dropping the atomic bomb it ended the war and saved Americans lives. In document J the estimated total casualty of Japanese people was estimated to be 199,000 people that is to the estimated 1 million American casualties if we kept fighting until the Japanese surrendered. Also, in document I it says “His (Truman’s) advisors had warned him to expect massive casualties if the United States invaded Japan.” Truman didn’t do it out of revenge he did it out of protection for American lives. In document A it says “It was their (committee of top men) recommendation that the bomb be used against the enemy as soon as it could be done.”

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

When Japan attacked pearl harbor the United States finally joined World War II. During this period the Allies fought in the Pacific and went after Japan. High casualties from this war because of island hopping in Japan and kamikazes dropped onto U.S ships were devastating and fueled the continuing of the war. As Japan refused to surrender new methods were developed to try and end the war once and for all. Wanting to save American lives, Truman decided to use an atomic bomb on Japan which led to it being dropped on Hiroshima and a few days later Nagasaki, ultimately moving the emperor of Japan to surrender.

Read More
712 Words | 3 Pages

Even though dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed thousands of Japanese citizens in a matter of seconds, it was still justified. On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, a naval base on one of the Hawaiian Islands, thus plunging the US into the biggest war the world had ever seen. President Harry S. Truman decided to use the atomic bombs to save American lives by not invading Japan. American soldiers were able to return to their wives and children since they did not have to fight in the war any longer. The war ended just six days after the bombs were dropped.

Read More
306 Words | 2 Pages

Harry Truman, the president of the United States decision to drop an atomic bomb on Japan was wrong. The two bombing incidents, occurring on August 6 and 9, 1945, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed over 200,000 Japanese people, and many who were innocent. Many famous scientists, living in the United States of America, ultimately, did not agree with Truman's decision to drop the bomb. Famous scientist, Albert Einstein, was part of the Manhattan Project, which was the idea of developing the atomic bomb, to later use on Japan to end World War 2 in 1945.

Read More
852 Words | 4 Pages

In fact, Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy wrote to Secretary of War Stimson in a June 27, 1945 memorandum. “I define this decision as an emotional and reckless decision, Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender” (Bard). In fact, the Japanese government expressed desire to end the war, and would have accepted conditional surrender before the mainland invasion in November. The reason for dropping the bomb was forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. In America’s opinion, Japan had lost the war; they did not have any capital to negotiate with.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

President Harry Truman gave an executive order in 1945 to drop to atomic bombs in popular downtown cities in Japan. With the guidance of many scientists and political leaders President Truman made the extremely tough decision to drop the bombs. After listening to arguments from both sides President Truman came to the conclusion that dropping bombs would be the best thing to do for this war. It would also show that the United States had an extreme military power. Many American politicians were for the idea of dropping the bomb, because they believed that it was the only way to end the war and get Japan to surrender.

Read More
1073 Words | 5 Pages

President Truman knew the effects of atomic warfare and selfishly continued to harm Japan. In July 1945, the first successful testing of the atomic bomb happened in the United States. Truman called it “the most terrible bomb in the

Read More

More about Truman's Decisions During World War II

Open Document