Preview

Was Truman's Decision Justified Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
543 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Was Truman's Decision Justified Analysis
Was Truman’s Decision Justified?
Would you rather fix a problem with something that would cause minimal damage or fix it with something that causes mass destruction? This question didn’t seem to come to thought when Truman was deciding between invading Japan, or bombing it using the atomic bomb. Truman’s decision to bomb Japan was not justified because he killed a bunch of innocent people, he destroyed major cities instead of only his main targets, and in the end, Europe was still left divided.
After FDR died, Truman became president and learned of the “A-bomb” or atomic bomb. He was given the choice of whether they invade Japan, or bomb it. According to Walter Lefeber’s Interview Transcripts: “The Bomb,” Truman saw the bomb as something they didn’t have in terms of leverage against the Soviet Union. He of course chose the bomb and later bombed Tokyo, Hiroshima, Iwojima, Okinawa, and Nagasaki. They didn’t even know if the bomb would work until they
…show more content…
The first reason being that while he may have gotten rid of his main targets, he also killed a bunch of innocent people. If he had chosen to invade rather than bomb, there would have been a huge decrease in the amount of deaths. Another reason he wasn’t justified is the fact that entire cities were brought down when it really wasn’t necessary. The reason for thinking this is unnecessary is very close to the last reason - there was more damage than there needed to be. One bomb destroyed about 16 square miles of land in Tokyo. Land that most likely had homes and businesses run by innocent people. The last reason on why this decision was not justified is because after all of this fighting, Europe was still left divided. The war was settled by giving the U.S., France, and Britain, western Germany while the Soviet Union got eastern Germany. This wasn’t that good of a solution because everybody was still separated instead of actually working as a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Truman, as he saw the attack of okinawa in 1944 witnessed how the Japanese would not surrender, they had to capture all 100,000 Japanese soldiers on the island (peace and war book page 152 by Ben Walsh). This lead to the US dropping almost 2000 tons of incendiary grenade from B 29 planes which ensured the US a victory for Truman. Although the Japanese were losing the pacific war, the fire bombs failed to persuade Japan to surrender which made Harry Truman’s decision to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From the information given to Harry Truman of how the Japanese were not willing to surrender, dropping of the atomic bomb was justified as he did it in order to shorten the agony of war and to save American lives. Based on the choices given, Truman had to take the least costly option which was to use this bomb. Furthermore, the bomb was an approach to end Japanese brutality on the asian countries they have colonized. In retrospect, many historians have criticized him as the Japanese were rumoured to be ready to surrender prior to the use of the Atomic…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Truman dropped the a bomb because the military entering japan would of caused to many casualties. So he had the a bomb created to save lives. I do agree with do agree with truman on dropping the a bomb. The a bomb being dropped did cause the death of many innocent Japanese civilians, i will say. The death of those people saved the lives of thousands of Americans, it sounds harsh, but it was either us or them.…

    • 78 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During World War II, the Japanese and Americans were at war. Japan had an advantage over American military troops with a greater number of troops being put out into the war. On the other hand, American troops and military bases had a technological advantage, which ultimately helped the Americans succeed during the war. President Truman made one of the most difficult decisions in American history. Truman’s decision would kill many Japanese soldiers but would save many of the Americans. An atomic bomb would be the last resort, which would wipe out countless miles of land, military bases, and anyone who was close by. As Truman had to think about the pros and cons of this decision, it was ultimately Truman’s say so in whether to proceed and…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    President Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the Japanese just did not surrender. However, it was the Japanese military leaders that did not want to surrender which led to the bombing on Hiroshima. The president asked the Japanese the first time to surrender by August 3rd and they did not and because of this being a war there is no sympathy. I believe that because of them not surrendering there is no other option. This war consisted of many people dying and there is no option but to surrender or get attacked. Japan if had the opportunity to attack, they would attack and this is true because of the constant resistance they have within the war.…

    • 234 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    It was August 6, 1945 when the first ever atomic bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Three days later another was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan and this let to the surrender of Japan in World War II. The surrender would have not occurred so soon if it had not been for President Harry Truman’s decision to use the first ever nuclear attack on another nation. His decision changed history and the way the world worked. This meant that nuclear power was out there at the disposal of the United States for them to use whenever they saw fit. The decision Truman had to make was extremely difficult seeing as he was faced with a huge ethical dilemma whether to kill entire cities to save millions of American lives. The issue was not only was it ethically right but did he have enough justification to prove to the world that dropping the atomic bomb was the only way to end the war.…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The money that was involved in the creation of the atomic bomb was tremendous. It was massive, if it wasn’t experimented on then it was believed that the Americans would be highly disappointed. After the Japanese attack, President Truman took that as a great opportunity to use the bombing. The outcome was successful because it caused an atrocious amount of deaths in…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Harry Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb was a good decision. If he had not decided to drop the atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the war would have continued and more Americans, as well as Japanese, would have continued to die. Since the Japanese were using ruthless methods of war like kamikazes or killing themselves rather than be captured, it was hard to tell how far Japan was willing to go in order to win the war. Thus, Truman’s decision to bomb Japan is justifiable by the cause of not knowing to what extents Japan was willing to go. I believe Truman wanted to show the Japanese that the United States was willing to do anything to win the…

    • 125 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    “On the morning of August 6, 1945, the American B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later another B-29, Bock’s Car, released one over Nagasaki. Both caused enormous casualties and physical destruction.” (Maddox 1). These disastrous events have weighted upon the American conscience ever since that day in history. Even though there are some people that disagree with the dropping of the atomic bomb, President Truman’s decision was very critical because he prevented the loss of many American lives, Japanese soldiers fought with no notion of ever surrendering, and it brought an end to a bloody war.…

    • 1290 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    It seems that according to revisionists, Harry Truman had other alternatives to reach his goals. The atomic bombs were not the only means towards the surrendering of Japan. He had the option of going ahead with a conventional bombing or strategic bombing which would have a significant impact: if not more, a little less than the atomic bomb. The argument is that if he had decided to use conventional bombing or strategic bombing, Japan would not have had to go through dangerous amounts of radiation levels which are still producing abnormalities in birth to this day. Also, revisionists claim that Truman’s decision was motivated by USSR. Historians have argued the claim that Truman had an interest in impressing Stalin, since USSR was about to invade Japan. Japan had already been defeated and its military and air force was exhausted. Another reason for Truman to launch the atomic bombs was to cover for the Manhattan Project. The project was created to build atomic bombs and consumed billions of US dollars. To show, or rather create a façade of the progress, the atomic bombs had to be displayed so the Americans would feel that the money was put to good…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dropping the Atomic Bomb On August 6, 1945, President Harry S. Truman made the decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Then on August 9, 1945, Truman ordered a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. These two decisions were based the war timeline, war casualties, the successful completion of atomic bomb testing, the war experience with Japan, and the political conditions related to potential Russian claims on Japan. The atomic bomb decision was primarily driven by the weariness of war. The scientific and humanitarian impacts arguing against the atomic bomb did not come until after the fact and in some cases not until many years later.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    President Truman sent a message to Japan, asking them “surrender immediately or face prompt and utter destruction”(Campbell). Japan had been warned about their destruction, but refused to surrender. Their The U.S. military had already taken control of Okinawa. Okinawa had proven to be devastating. The invasion inflicting around 50,000 casualties on the invaders. Okinawa showing us what invading the Japanese islands will be like. Japan and Japanese militants were not going to give up easily. Japan was desperate to win. Desperate enough to deploy a battleship, named Yamato, on a suicide mission to Okinawa. Where is was supposed to attack American ships and then go ashore to become a doomed steal fortress. This did not happen because Yamato was sunk after leaving its port.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Truman Doctrine Failure

    • 2189 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The transformations of the United States ' foreign policy during and after World War II allowed her participation in future foreign affairs and completely denounced her policy as a isolationist state. The United States broke through the barrier of being an isolationist state and dedicated itself completely to preserving the welfare of the rest of the world. Largely due to the Truman Doctrine, the United States would no longer stay in the Western Hemisphere and hide behind the Monroe Doctrine, but would now make it her business to guide all facets of the world down the "right" path of liberty and democracy. This responsibility which the United States put upon herself would cause controversy and debate in the years to come. Is it the United States…

    • 2189 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Then the question of the ethical use of the bomb emerged. Many scholars agreed that “it is clear that alternatives to the bomb existed and that Truman and his advisers knew it.” Men like Barton J. Bernstein began to counter many arguments for the use of the atomic bomb, including using the bomb to intimidate Russia. https://www.nps.gov/articles/trumanatomicbomb.htmHowever, the Truman was given four alternatives which included conventional bombing of the Japanese home islands, ground invasion of the Japanese home islands, and demonstration of the Atomic Bomb on an unpopulated/populated area. Moreover, Japan would have collapsed before the invasion due to its internal problems of political, military, and the economy.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War 2, is thought to a fight for humanity. Most people agree that if Hitler wins, that the world is going downhill from there. This is why the bombing has been justified. In my opinion, I believe that using nuclear weapons against Japan is necessary to end the war. If we do not drop the bomb, and we invade Japan instead, millions of soldiers will lose their lives. If we care about our country and our soldiers, we would choose to drop this…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hiroshima Outline

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages

    II. The atomic bombing saved the lives of many people who would have been killed in an invasion of the Japanese mainland.…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays