The Atomic Bomb
In 1939, a vision was put into motion with the creation of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was going to be the answer to the end of World War II and the final factor that would solidify the United States as a true superpower. With the creation of the atomic bomb, no one would stand in the way of the United States. The United States became the "New Rome," and with the power of the Atomic Bomb behind them, no other nation stood in their way. "My God, what have we done?" - Robert Lewis, the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb. On August 2, 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build an atomic bomb. It was after that letter was delivered that the United States began the project, known then only as, "The Manhattan Project." The Manhattan Project was devoted to increasing research that would produce an atomic bomb. ("World War II: The Atomic Bomb") Over the course of six years, from 1939 to 1945, more than $2 billion was spent on the Manhattan Project. The formulas for refining uranium and putting together a working atomic bomb were created by some of the greatest minds of all time. One of the scientists among the people who discovered the power of the atom bomb was J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was the director of operations for the project. Oppenheimer also gave the test day for the atomic bomb the code name, Trinity. He would also later be head over the Atomic Energy Commission. On July 16, 1945, all of the scientists working on the Manhattan Project met at Los Alamos for the "Trinity Test" to find out if "The Gadget" ( the atomic bomb's code-named during its development) was going to be the biggest dud of the century or the biggest breakthrough of the century that would bring an end to the war and a new beginning for the