Truman's Decision to Drop the A-Bomb

1. Who was Harry S. Truman's Secretary of War?      
Henry L. Stimson.


2. Who was Truman's Chief of Staff?       
Admiral William D. Leahy

3. Why did Truman believe nuclear bombs needed to be used?    
He believed it was the only way that America could get Japan to unconditionally surrender

4. Why did Admiral Leahy believe nuclear bombs didn't need to be used?      
He said that they had already effectively won with conventional bombing and a successful blockade.

5. Why did Supreme Allied Commander and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower believe they didn't need to be used?      
He too believed that Japan at this point was pretty much defeated.

6. Critics of Truman fall into two camps. One was that he acted rashly because of his "inferior foreign policy skills" when compared to FDR. What is the other major criticism?     
That since so much money had been spent on making the bomb Truman just wanted to use it so it wouldn't be a waste.

7. Key critics of Truman's use of the bomb weren't on the "historical fringe," but were who?      
His chief of staff, Admiral Leahy, and his secretary of war, Stimson.

8. Truman began to soften on his stance for unconditional surrender but something occurred that changed his mind for good. What was that?     
The successful Trinity test of the bomb.

9. Besides defeating Japan what was Truman's other possible motivation for using the nuclear bombs on Japan?    
Showing the Soviet Union that we were very powerful.

10. At Yalta Stalin promised to enter the war against Japan once Germany was defeated. Conventional thinking said this if the Soviets began fighting against Japan.     
The Japanese would surely surrender.

11. The four-power surrender ultimatum to be presented to Japan was to be written and decided upon where?    
Postdam conference, July 1945.

12. What did the Washington Post editorialize about "unconditional surrender"?     
It was never a good idea in the first place.

13. What is the significance of Paragraph 12 in the draft copy of the Potsdam Proclamation prior to Truman setting sail on the USSAugusta? (More detail is needed for this question)     
Paragraph 12 made it clear to the Japanese people that their emperor would still be safe. It also was more on the side of conditional surrender and the softening that Truman's advisers had suggested. The language used put the power to end the war in Japanese hands, giving them the power to stop the killing. 



14. What changed when the Proclamation was publicly announced on July 26?       
The portion regarding a constitutional monarchy with the present dynasty is removed.

15. According to the author, what might have changed Truman's mind to alter the wording in Paragraph 12? (More detail is needed for this question)      
The successful testing of the Trinity bomb was a large reason for the changing of the word. An uncertain test suddenly became a powerful weapon of war for Truman. He was now certain he could make the Japanese surrender. He also didn't want to seem soft to the Soviet Union since he knew he would have to deal with them after the war, and being merciless with Japan would show Stalin that he wasn't afraid.


16. Regarding his diary entry of a conversation with Winston Churchill (who is call "P.M." in the entry) what does the author suggest about Truman's attitude with the bomb despite learning what he does from Churchill?      
Truman learns from Churchill that the Japanese were planning to surrender, and nevertheless decides to use the bomb. The author suggests this shows that he had decided to use it regardless of what happened.

17. What does his caption on the back of the photo of Stalin and Truman suggest about the use of the bomb?      
It might be used by Truman almost as bragging rights over Stalin.

18. "From a foreign policy perspective" what two accomplishments were made by dropping the bomb?    
Ending the war with Japan and being the first to "attack" in the Cold War against the Soviet Union.

19. To give credit to Truman, why didn't he know what FDR's intentions were with the bomb?    
Before becoming president he was kept in total secrecy, and really no one knew what FDR's intention was in regards to the atomic bomb.

20. How did the discrepancy between the loss of 1 million U.S. soldiers lives versus 20,000 to 40,000 if Japan's mainland would have been invaded, affect the understanding of their use?           
This discrepancy was used to help Truman give the American public a bigger reason to support the bombing. He knew that if that many American lives were at stake no one would publicly disagree with it.

21. Based on your readings, this reading, and discussion in class, in a paragraph or two, answer the following: To what extent was President Truman's decision to drop bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?     
President Truman's decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified in the context of the Cold War but not World War II. This means that the reasoning that it was justified because there was no other way to make Japan surrender is not correct. The emperor of Japan was planning to surrender by the time that Truman decided to drop the bomb. However, if Truman had not dropped the bomb, we would not have asserted our power over the Soviet Union to set the stage for the Cold War. Hence, it was the right decision for the Cold War.