Trial Decision This trial of President Harry S Truman attempts to malign him as a war criminal after the role he played in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As Commander in Chief during World War II, President Truman made the final decision in whether the atomic bombs should or should not be dropped to put an end to Japanese resistance and bring the second world war to a close. It is being called into question whether the Japanese’s unwillingness to surrender called for such a severe response from the United States. During this trial, President Truman’s innocence was formally debated based on the information presented from the prosecution and defense, and we, the judges, have reached a verdict. We find President Harry S …show more content…
For instance, the defense continually mentioned the Bushido code and the Japanese’s unwillingness to surrender. Firstly, nowhere in the Bushido code does it state that surrender was not an option. Secondly, even if this proved true, the United States still had the capability to easily overcome Japan’s weakening army rendering this point mute. Whether the Japanese planned to surrender or not, the United States had the power to end Japanese resistance without the bombs and the severe damage they caused. Additionally, they backed every statement with the same point of “President Truman had to put the American people first.” While this may be true of a president’s duties to their country, morally, Truman still should have weighed the potential damage the bombs would cause on a global scale. Knowing that the United States, a dominant nation, could conquer the Japanese with ease, he should not have used a weapon of mass destruction on the innocent citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The defense used this repeatedly to support their claims and offered no variation to their rationalizations of Truman’s actions. I feel that in this case, the defense team did little to truly justify the dropping of the atomic bombs. In essence, the ineffectiveness of their argument and their hackneyed statements used to explain the president’s actions did not provide enough evidence to clear his name and wash his hands of
Sure, Truman may have realized that he might be able to “put down” the Soviet Union and force the Japanese to surrender, sort of a kill two birds with one stone. However, implying that this was the impelling reason for President Truman wanting to drop the bomb is absurd. Two major pieces of evidence used in this argument are the fact that the Soviet Union’s entry into the war almost certainly pressured the Japanese into surrender, and that General Dwight D. Eisenhower asked Secretary of War Henry L Stimson personally to not drop the bomb while at Potsdam. With the Soviet Union’s entry into the war, it was only likely that Japan would surrender. If they didn’t, that would still lead to Operation Downfall, and that was not an option President Truman wanted.
Harry Truman evidently demonstrates ultranationalist actions and motives to a moderate extent, accordingly, he is guilty of crimes involving the mistreatment, internment, and use of nuclear warfare against the Japanese peoples. Arguments on whether or not he is an ultranationalist are debatable to a considerable extent. Nevertheless, due to the complexity of the issue, the most reinforced position points to a moderate degree of ultranationalism for various reasons. Although Harry Truman was responsible for the death of 129 to 246 thousand Japanese civilians as a direct result of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he ultimately prevented further casualties.
John Hersey wrote that “[Mrs. Nakamura] immediately turned 4 on the radio, which … [was] broadcasting a fresh warning”. Along with radio warnings there were also rumors that Hiroshima might be hit with bombs and air raid alarms when enemy planes flew over the city. Truman also dropped leaflets on many different Japanese cities a month before the attach informing them of what could happen if they did not surrender. PBS translated the leaflets which said that “we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war”. With the warnings given by radio, alarms, and leaflets, this demonstrates that the Japanese knew what could happen to their beloved city and decided not to evacuate their cities.
As the United States were planning on how to invade Japan, there had been a lot of controversy between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff Admiral William Leahy, Secretary of War Henry Stimson as to how to attack Japan until Secretary of State James Byrnes brought up the idea of bombing Japan without any warning, shocking Japan into surrendering. According to document A, “Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives.” The quote from document A shows that Truman had to use anything available in order to save American
In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.
Firstly, Truman had to look into the different options of attack. One option would be to blockade Japan into surrender. Blockade would not work as this tactic, used in Germany failed and Germany did not surrender until action was brought into Germany itself. Another option was also one used in Germany, to bomb Japan’s munitions industries.
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.
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States, being in office from 1945 to 1953. Truman demonstrates uses of both expressed and inherent powers throughout his presidency. During the years of his first administration, Truman attended the Potsdam Conference alongside Churchill and Stalin to discuss post-war matters regarding the decision to split up Germany. Throughout this time period of war filled with tension among nations, Truman approved the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan in efforts to end the war in the Pacific and prevent any possible future casualties that Japan may inflict on the United States. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, and the second was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9.
Funny how history works, FDR and Truman were the right Presidents at the right time. FDR introduced the greatest amount of domestic liberal economic legislation as part of his New Deal domestic program. Measures like the Conservation Corps (CCC), Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Tennessee Valley Authority employing over 8.5 million people and the cost of $10 Billion (Burran 2008). Although Hamby’s Liberalism and Its Challengers clarifies that new Deal failed to establish a variety of socialistic ideas and resolve all the problems, the credit is given for at least smoothing out some difficult times (Hamby 1992, 50). This tame depiction of becoming the model of modern economic liberalization that remains today then is followed by President
Being the president of the United States comes with the responsibility of making tough decisions that aren’t always perceived as the best, especially when it involves the war. In 1945, President Harry Truman had to make a difficult decision that ultimately gave americans a leg up in the war. President Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan in WWII is surrounded by much controversy but holds many positive advantages that helped end the war. Presidents Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb posed nearly no significant dilemmas overall.
Imagine living in a period in which the realities of war encased the world, and the lethal potential to end all suffering was up to a single being. During World War II, tensions between Japan and the United States increased. Despite pleas from US President, Harry Truman, for Japan to surrender, the Japanese were intent on continuing the fight. As a result, Truman ordered the atomic bomb, a deadly revolution in nuclear science, to be dropped on the towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. President Harry Truman, in his speech, “Announcement of the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb,” supports his claim that the dropping of the A-bomb shortened the war, saved lives, and got revenge by appealing to American anger by mentioning traumatic historical events and
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).
The Bombing of Hiroshima The bombing of Hiroshima was the right thing to do due to the military lives that were going to be lost if the bomb did not get dropped, America also wanted to impress Russia or intimidate them by dropping it and the president saw this opportunity to make japan surrender as well. This all supports the main point on why it was the right thing to do but many to all Japanese say otherwise Lots of soldiers lost their lives because of the conflict with japan, in document B, it states,”123,000 Japanese and Americans killed each other”. Paul Fussell, a WWII soldier also stated, ”war is immoral, war is cruel”. This is speaking for all the soldiers in the war or most of them, this also means that he doesn’t like war and it would
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.
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.