Was Truman morally and militarily justified in dropping two Atomic Bombs on Japan?

Essay by Ishynum846High School, 11th gradeA+, March 2002

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"16 hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed upon those who brought war to the Far East." ---Truman. These were the famous words of a novice president who was sworn in to presidency the day Roosevelt died. Although Truman's response to the political questions showed that he was certain he made the right decision, nobody would have been able to know if he was lying or telling the truth. I believe President Truman's decision to use the atomic bombs on Japan was not morally nor militarily justified.

After Germany and Italy surrendered in May of 1945 and ended World War II in Europe, Japan was the only nation left from the Axis Alliance. Since Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; destroying the biggest U.S. naval harbor in the Pacific, and since the Japanese were the murderers of 140 American Prisoners by leading them into air-raid trenches and burning them alive after spilling gasoline on them on the islands of The Philippines, the United States had a desire for revenge.

On June 26, 1945 the Potsdam Conference was put together in Germany. Truman was meeting with representatives from 50 countries including Winston Churchill of Great Britain and Joseph Stalin of Russia. The conference was meant to bring back peace to the world without repeating the mistakes in the peace settlements that were made after World War, which led to Germany starting World War II. When Truman was the vice-president he was briefly told about the atomic bomb. But the day he became the president; when he was in the middle of a crisis, he was informed about the projects and the tests that were being done. During the conference, Truman received the word of successful testing of...