Truman's Decision - Essay Example

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombing of Truman’s Decision During the Second World War, between 6 August and 9 August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That led to the surrender of the Japanese, which effectively ended the war. There has been debate on whether President Harry Truman made the right decision to drop the two atomic bombs in those cities. Although there did exist other alternatives, President Truman together with his military advisors decided to drop the bombs in Japan.

Though the consequences were great, they did achieve to force the Japanese to surrender and effectively end the war. Critics may give many reasons as to why the President’s decision was not right, including humanitarian ones, but a keen examination of what might have happened had Japan not been bombed reveals that the President was right on several accounts. First, the Japanese initiated an attack on the US by attacking the Pearl Harbor. That was despite the fact that the Japanese Government and the US Governments were engaged in diplomatic negotiations.

The Japanese also proved to be a vicious enemy who could only agree to submit under serious attack such as the two Bombings. Another argument that greatly supports the attack is the avoidance of deaths and casualties due to the war. Ironically, the two atomic bombs served to save many lives, both American and Japanese, that would have been lost had the war continued. The estimated mortality and casualty rate due to planned land invasions into Japan was high. Many Soldiers and Japanese civilians would have lost their lives in the invasions.

However, the bombings ended the war and thus helped avoid further deaths. One may also argue that the President may have made the decision to serve as a deterrent measure. It served to drive fear into the enemy of the US’s military capabilities. The fear generated thus helped to stop them in their tracks as they realized that any further attack on the US would attract an equally or more devastating attack by the US.ReferencesWalker, J.S. (2005). Recent Literature on Trumans Atomic Bomb Decision: A Search for Middle Ground.

Diplomatic History, 29(2), pp. 311–334.