The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the decision to authorize the use of atomic bombs against Japan in 1945 was reached. The paper charts the different opinions voiced at the time and afterwards, as well as the opinions of those who thought that Truman made the wrong choice.

From the Paper:

"The decision to authorize the use of Atomic Bombs against Japan in 1945 was in the hands of President Harry S Truman. There are many different opinions of what should have been done, as many as there were at the time, and also many who feel that Truman made the wrong choice; historians themselves cannot agree on whether the President ended the War with this action, or dropped a devastating bomb on a nation that was willing to surrender anyway. Hindsight does suggest that the massive number of civilian casualties "More than 200,000 deaths - the vast majority of victims being women, children and elderly men" (Long, The Historians' Letter to the Smithsonian) was rather excessive, but Truman could not have predicted those casualties, nor that the effects would remain in the population for so long afterwards. Truman did not have the benefit of our knowledge, and so the best way to consider the justification for his actions is to consider his own words and actions."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dannen, Gene. 2003 http://www.dannen.com/decision/
• Long, Doug http://www.doug-long.com/
• Truman, Harry http://www.trumanlibrary.org/

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