Truman's Decision to Drop the A-Bomb

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


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

3. Why did Truman believe nuclear bombs needed to be used?    
Truman thought nuclear bombs needed to be used in order for "unconditional surrender" to be achieved. 

4. Why did Admiral Leahy believe nuclear bombs didn't need to be used?      
Admiral Leahy believed the nuclear bombs were not necessary because he believed Japan was already ready to surrender due to the sea blockade and "successful bombing on the main land."

5. Why did Supreme Allied Commander and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower believe they didn't need to be used?      
He believed they didn't need to be used because he thought Japan had already been defeated as well. 


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?     
The other major criticism was that since there was such a large amount of money spent on the Manhattan project, that he may have felt pressure to follow through with the action that had been tested. 

7. Key critics of Truman's use of the bomb weren't on the "historical fringe," but were who?      
The key critics were his secretary of war as well as Admiral Leahy. 

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

9. Besides defeating Japan what was Truman's other possible motivation for using the nuclear bombs on Japan?    
Truman's other possible motivation for using the nuclear bombs on Japan was that he realised how powerful and what relevance the nuclear bomb actually had in significance to the postwar relationship between the U.S. and The Soviet Union. 

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.     
If the soviets began fighting against Japan then Japan would obviously be defeated.

11. The four-power surrender ultimatum to be presented to Japan was to be written and decided upon where?    
The Potsdam Conference

12. What did the Washington Post editorialize about "unconditional surrender"?     
The Washington Post editorialized the the unconditional surrender that the surrendering terms had been softened.

13. What is the significance of Paragraph 12 in the draft copy of the Potsdam Proclamation prior to Truman setting sail on the USS Augusta? (More detail is needed for this question)     
The significance of paragraph 12 in the draft copy of the Potsdam Proclamation prior to Truman setting sail on the USS Augusta is that paragraph 12 had originally "gave the Japanese comfort with regard to the maintenance of their emperor" However, by the time Truman arrived at the conference, the paragraph had been removed and changed so that the comforting part about the Japanese Emperor had been removed. The thing that had changed all of this was said to be the success of the Trinity test. 
14. What changed when the Proclamation was publicly announced on July 26?       
When the proclamation was publicly announced on July 26 was that paragraph 12 had been removed and altered. 

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)      
According to the author, the thing that may have changed Truman's mind to alter the wording in Paragraph 12 was the success of the Trinity test. According to the reading, "the bomb seems to have shifted from a tool for ending the war with Japan to one that could establish America's primacy in the postwar global balance of power" This was the cause for Truman changing his mind and altering the wording of paragraph 12. 


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?      
The author suggests about Truman's attitude with the bomb despite learning what he does from Churchill is that Truman had already been planning to use the bomb, even though Japan was ready to surrender. 

17. What does his caption on the back of the photo of Stalin and Truman suggest about the use of the bomb?      
The caption on the back of the photo suggests that Truman anticipated a great effect by the atom bomb on Japan and also that he "harbored an almost playful sense of rivalry" with Stalin. 

18. "From a foreign policy perspective" what two accomplishments were made by dropping the bomb?    
The two accomplishments made by dropping the bomb were ending the war with Japan as well as firing the first shot in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. 

19. To give credit to Truman, why didn't he know what FDR's intentions were with the bomb?    
He didn't know what FDR's intentions were with the bomb because when he was a senator and a vice president he knew very little about the Manhattan project, therefore he knew little about the bomb in general. FDR also died before Germany's surrender so he couldn't have known what FDR actually wanted.

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 affected the understanding of their use because it made the general public understand why nuclear bombs were used rather than normal invasion, because more lives would've been lost. 


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 Japan was not justified. Although there are many reasons as to why Truman dropped them, it wasn't necessary in the least. It is known that Truman didn't know what FDR wanted to do with the bombs, but this is no excuse. If Truman didn't know, he shouldn't have done anything. In addition, Truman may have done it in order to signify postwar power for the U.S. or to fire the first shot in the Cold War with , yet the Soviet Union again, stupid reasons. The last thing we needed was to go into the Cold War with the Soviet Union and to use the bombs to help signify the power of the U.S. just seems cocky. As the reading says, Japan had already been defeated and had been ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped, making the bombs being dropped, overkill. It wasn't necessary and it killed so many people. It would be one thing to have dropped the bombs if Japan had not been defeated or ready to surrender, but when they were, the bombs were still dropped, making the dropping of the bombs unjustified.