Alaina Lake

Professor Feveryear
HIST 1700
April 13, 2015

Dropping the Bomb

President Harry Truman was put in a difficult position. President Franklin D
Roosevelt had just died of a cerebral hemorrhage and Truman was in line to take his
place. The country was caught in the middle of World War II after Japan had attacked
Pearl Harbor. Truman, like the rest of the Americans, wanted the war to end. He was
faced with the decision on just how to do that.
I find it very interesting the Truman didnt know about the secret Manhattan
Project until after he became president. The nuclear bomb, along with mainland
invasion, was among some of the choices that were pondered on to stop the war. Im
sure that many days and nights were filled with thoughts about what would happen
post-bomb or if there had been no atomic bomb at all.
The biggest terrorist attack that has ever been on US soil was the 9/11 attacks
where passenger planes were hijacked and crashed into the North and South towers of
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The attacks killed nearly 3000 people. The
atomic bombings werent necessarily a terrorist attack. However, the death toll for both
bombs dropped on Japan together is estimated at 135,000 people. That is 45 times the
death toll of the United States worst ever terrorist attack.
Because of the amount of people that these bombs killed, I would have not
dropped the bombs. I cant imagine being raised in a culture that not fitting in with
exactly what the emperor wanted to happen I wouldnt be threatened to be killed. What
if I was planning an escape that could bring me to the Americas the next day. What if I
was sick of the war as well and didnt agree with my very forceful Japanese emperor but
I had to provide for my family so I had to go to work that day. And then all the sudden,
everything, including myself, is turned to ash. It wasnt fair for some of the Japanese.
Elementary students were among those that perished. Children are nothing but
innocent.
After the bombs were dropped, President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated that he
hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon (Foner 703). Dropping the
bomb made a huge statement that was heard all around the world. The United States of
America was the strongest force that existed. But what happened when apple
announced that they had designed their Apple Watch. The competition went into full
swing to influence customers to buy something similar of their own make. It isnt exactly
like an Apple Watch, but after the US dropped the first atomic bombs every other

country (especially those that were involved in the war) begin, if not had already started,
researching, testing, and producing such powerful weapons. I believe that a lot of
countries did this out of fear.
Despite my previously stated decision to not drop the bomb, I agree with
dropping the second bomb after the emperor failed to surrender following the first
deadly explosion. The emperor wouldnt budge after the March 1945 B29 bombings on
some of Japans major cities. This stubborn of an emperor would have proved to make
land invasion very difficult and it would have resulted in more deaths of US personnel.
I do think that President Truman made the right choice in warning the Japanese
about what was about to happen. It seems like they would have surrendered after the
first bomb. I can imagine that the emperor thought that there was no way that the United
States would have two bombs of the like and after the second bomb there was no way
of telling how many they had. The emperor probably realized that if he didnt surrender,
he was going to lose his entire country.
All in all, I agree with what Eisenhower said about dropping the bomb. It was sad
to see our country be the first to use such a weapon. I know it was a difficult decision to
make and the US would have seen more casualties and the war would have probably
lasted several years longer, but I think that if the US stuck to it, they would have come
out on top the way that they did without putting the fear of a nuclear power into the
minds of every country.

Works Cited

Foner, Eric. "Fighting for the Four Freedom's: World War II." Give Me Liberty!: An
American History. Brief ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.