President Trumans decision to drop the A-bomb.?

Question

Why did President Truman decide to drop the A-bomb? What were some issues that affected his decision? What was the debate over whether it should be done or not? Does anyone have any good explanations or VERY informational websites relating to the subject? Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

President Harry Truman's Diary

http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/correspondence/truman-harry/corr_diary_truman.htm

"Truman Diary Entry, June 18 1945

At the meeting of June 18, '45 the invasion plan for Japan was discussed. General Marshall's plan was approved.
We were approaching an experiment with the atom explosion. I was informed that event would take place within a possible thirty days.

I then suggested that after that experimental test of the fission of the atom, that we give Japan a chance to stop the war by a surrender. That plan was followed. Japan refused to surrender and the bomb was dropped on two targets after which event the surrender took place."

After the second bomb was dropped, Japan set conditions for surrendering.

"Truman Diary Entry, August 10 1945
Ate lunch at my desk and discussed the Jap offer to surrender which came in a couple of hours earlier. They wanted to make a condition precedent to the surrender. Our terms are 'unconditional'. They wanted to keep the Emperor. We told 'em we'd tell 'em how to keep him, but we'd make the terms."

Answer 2

Any encyclopedica britannica will outline Truman's decision. even in acknowledging that Truman and the U.S. were disturbed because of the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnilk l. The U.S. wanted to be a super power. The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard. The U.S. did not want to "second" ever again when it came to high technology.......Then came the A-bomb. On August 2, 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build an atomic bomb. It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government began the serious undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project." Simply put, the Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that would produce a viable atomic bomb.
Over the course of six years, from 1939 to 1945, more than $2 billion was spent during the history of the Manhattan Project. The formulas for refining uranium and putting together a working atomic bomb were created and seen to their logical ends by some of the greatest minds of our time. Chief among the people who unleashed the power of the atom was J. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from conception to completion.

Finally, the day came when all at Los Alamos would find out if "The Gadget" (code-named as such during its development) was going to be the colossal dud of the century or perhaps an end to the war. It all came down to a fateful morning in midsummer, 1945.

Even as Japan had indicated surrender,Truman wanted to go ahead with his plans and thusly, did so. The US targeted civilian locations even as it had promised to target military operations sites only.
In short, Truman was determined to drop that bomb..no matter
what.And the U.S. would be remembered as a super power, no matter what.

Answer 3

H-bomb!
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/h-bomb-decision.htm

Answer 4

you cant look at the decision individually ...

you hafta read about the entire Pacific War and the Japanese themselves during WW2 in order to understand why Truman had to drop the a-bombs...

its never a 'good idea' to drop a massive bomb on a city, especially 2.. but sadly, it was for the "greater good" as Bush would say...

Answer 5

Truman was concerned that too many American boys were getting killed in a war that could be going on forever.

Dropping the bomb ended all this immediately and Japan surrendered unconditionally.

.

Answer 6

It was estimated that the invasion of Japan would cost approximately 700,000 United Statesian lives and well over 2 million Japanese (between soldiers and civilian casualties). Dropping the A. bomb produced approximately 1/10 the estimated losses of a conventional invasion.

These numbers were arrived on based on the mortality rate of invading Okinawa.

Answer 7

It was a very intelligent decision. For one thing he weighed the results of attacking the Japan mainland. We had many of our POWs being held on the mainland. The Japanese would have used them for shields. It was also estimated that over 1,000,000 would die if they were attacked.Also, he figured a bomb on a smaller city would convince them they could not win. When the first one didn't move them, he went for the second one. That one convinced them they would be wiped out if we dropped any on Tokyo and decided it wasn't worth it.

Answer 8

the war in the pacific was harsh and the closer the marines got to japan, the harder the japanese fought. It was estimated that the americans would have lost half a million lives in the invasion of japan not counting how many japanese would have lost their lives because they would have fought with every last man, woman, and child. so by dropping the bomb, it actually saved lives on both sides and ended the war earlier.

Answer 9

It was a different time & culture. We used to think that utterly defeating the enemy and preservation of your own men was ideal. 50+ years of bad ideas have led to a pragmatic / altruistic culture that has flipped the equation: we must restrain from winning too decisively (if at all), and sacrifice of our men is viewed as honerable. In a word, we (well, enough of our culture anyway) believe in self destruction.

Answer 10

he shortened the war with japan considerately in doing so.