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Essay on Truman's Decision to Drop the Bomb
Many debates have been provoked based on President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The debate is not solely based on the bomb being dropped, but more on the actual necessity and intention of the bomb being dropped. I believe that the Presidents decision was based dually on military necessity and on the Nation’s reputation. Truman was not a dumb man; he was inexperienced and quickly expected to make important decisions based on very little information that he had been recently made aware of. I believe that his first thought was to just end the War. I do not think he felt the need for Stalin’s admission, but did not turn down the extra support for ending the war quickly.
Truman, I believe, wanted the war over with the least amount of American blood shed. I believe that with the help of his trusted advisors, he saw that the dropping of the bomb was a faster, more effective way to end with the least amount of U.S. casualties that was available. The idea of a Soviet Union invasion probably did not settle well for the President on different levels. The first would be allies and American blood and casualties being too high. The other most prominent one, in my mind, is the idea of some one else winning the war that we have been most leading warriors in. This thought brings me to my next motive of why Truman might have dropped the bomb.
I do not think Truman was unaware of the lasting effects of the atom bomb, but by the time these facts were presented to him, piled upon facts about the actual bomb and the projects supporting them, it was too late to change his decision.He needed to save face for America (which brings me to the next motive of pressure) even if it public opinion was not his main concern.....
