Henry L. 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 believe that nuclear bombs needed to be used in order to force the Japanese to surrender unconditionally, therefore ending all fighting.
4. Why did Admiral Leahy believe nuclear bombs didn't need to be used?
Leahy did not believe nuclear bombs should be used because he thought that the sea blockade and normal bombing of Japan was enough to defeat them and that they have would surrendered.
5. Why did Supreme Allied Commander and future president Dwight D. Eisenhower believe they didn't need to be used?
Eisenhower thought that Japan was already defeated, so there was no reason to use the bomb.
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 is that, since America had spent a lot of money to create the bomb, Truman was just using it so that the money would not have been spent in vain. The criticism is that so many people should not be killed so that America can get the value out of their money.
7. Key critics of Truman's use of the bomb weren't on the "historical fringe," but were who?
Stimson and 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 Trinity test of the atom bomb, because it was successful and, therefore, offered an alternative of how to end the war.
9. Besides defeating Japan what was Truman's other possible motivation for using the nuclear bombs on Japan?
The Soviet Union was going to fight against Japan 90 days after Germany was defeated.
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.
That the Japanese would be defeated and surrender.
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 stated that unconditional surrender would never actually work.
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 is that it was a bit of conditional surrender. This paragraph was promising to not harm the emperor and even give him power in the new form of government. This promise to protect the emperor would not have been there if the proclamation was calling for unconditional surrender. Therefore, this shows that Truman was planning on calling for conditional surrender when he left for the Potsdam Conference.
14. What changed when the Proclamation was publicly announced on July 26?
When the Proclamation was publicly announced, Paragraph 12 no longer promised to protect the emperor and include him in the new government.
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 change in Paragraph 12 was partially due to the success of the Trinity test. Since America now had the atom bomb, which could easily make Japan surrender, there was no need to protect the emperor under conditional surrender. The atom bomb could hurt Japan so much that they would surrender under unconditional surrender and America would look very powerful.
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?
Truman wants to do more than make Japan surrender, he wants to use the bomb to prove that America is superior.
17. What does his caption on the back of the photo of Stalin and Truman suggest about the use of the bomb?
This caption suggests that Truman was using the bomb to show off the power of America and boast to other countries.
18. "From a foreign policy perspective" what two accomplishments were made by dropping the bomb?
The first accomplishment was defeating Japan and the second was displaying to power of America to the Soviet Union, thus starting the Cold War.
19. To give credit to Truman, why didn't he know what FDR's intentions were with the bomb?
He did not know what FDR's intention were with the bomb because he was not told about the bomb when he was senator or vice-president, so he did not know it existed until after FDR died.
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?
When Americans thought one soldiers would be lost, they understood that the bomb should be used, but since twenty to forty thousand is a much smaller number, they may not have been understanding about the use of the bomb.
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 Hiroshima and Nagasaki was mostly justified. IT was justified for many reason. Since Truman never knew about the bomb when FDR was alive, he could have only assumed that, since FDR had wanted such a weapon produced, he had also wanted to use it. Therefore, Truman would have thought that he was doing what FDR wanted. Also, although the estimation that one million America soldiers would be lost was later proven wrong, Truman only knew the figure of one million men. Since he had a weapon that could end the war and spare all of those lives, how would the American people feel if they found out that one million lives could have been saved, but the government chose not to save them. Another reason the usage of the bomb was justified was how it prevented Japan from getting their way. Unconditional surrender was guaranteed with the use of the atom bomb. This meant that the people who had killed so many Americans would not be walking away unaffected. However, there is one major reason the atom bomb was not justified.
There were many civilian lives taken by the usage of the atom bombs. This alone is a major point that does not justify the use of the atom bombs. Yet if the atom bomb had not been used, a land war might have taken place that would have also killed civilians. Either way, the civilian deaths is the one point that makes Truman's decision not completely justified.
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