Should President Truman Have Dropped The Atomic Bomb
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Obama says he will not apologize for A-bomb in Hiroshima
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Yet in the summer of , as the atomic bomb was being prepared for its final testing, a closely contained debate over its use did emerge within the circle of scientists who had contributed to its development. Leo Szilard , a refugee Hungarian physicist who had petitioned President Roosevelt to begin work on the bomb years earlier, had grave concerns. The main reason Szilard had urged the United States to begin work on the atomic bomb was his fear that Nazi scientists would develop nuclear weapons first. Szilard and other European scientists who worked on the project for the Americans had considered the use of the bomb against the Nazis to be legitimate. Stimson in June They argued that the bomb should be not be used against Japan without warning, and that a demonstration explosion should be arranged so the Japanese leadership could understand the threat.
Their arguments were essentially ignored. The secretary of war formed a group called the Interim Committee, which was tasked with deciding how the bomb was to be used. The issue of whether it should be used was not really an issue. The thinking in the highest levels of the Truman administration and the military was quite clear: if the atomic bomb could shorten the war, it should be used. Defense factories tended to be located in or near cities, and would naturally be located not far from housing for many civilian workers. So it was always assumed that civilians would be in the target zone, but that was not unusual in the context of the war.
Many thousands of civilians had died in the Allied bombing of Germany, and the firebombing campaign against Japan in early had already killed as many as a half-million Japanese civilians. Churchill had known the Americans had been working on the bomb. Stalin had been officially kept in the dark, though Soviet spies working within the Manhattan Project had been passing along information that a major weapon was being developed. The Soviets and the Japanese were not at war, and were actually adhering to a non-aggression pact signed years earlier.
In meetings with Churchill and President Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference in early , Stalin had agreed that the Soviet Union would attack Japan three months after the surrender of Germany. As Germany had surrendered on May 8, , that placed the Soviet Union's entry into the Pacific war on August 8, As Truman and his advisers saw it, Russian help fighting Japan would be welcomed if the Americans would be facing more years of grueling combat. However, the Americans were very wary of Soviet intentions.
Seeing the Russians acquire influence over Eastern Europe, there was a great interest in preventing Soviet expansion into parts of Asia. Truman knew that if the bomb worked and could possibly end the war quickly, he could prevent widespread Russian expansion in Asia. So when a coded message reached him in Potsdam informing him that the bomb test was successful, he could engage Stalin with greater confidence. He knew he would not need Russian help to defeat Japan. In his handwritten journal, Truman jotted down his thoughts in Potsdam on July 18, I am sure they will when Manhattan [referring to the Manhattan Project] appears over their homeland.
At the Potsdam conference, the United States issued a call for unconditional surrender of Japan. On July 29, , Japan rejected the Potsdam Declaration. The United States had two atomic bombs ready to use. A target list of four cities had been determined, and it was decided that the bombs would be used after August 3, , as weather permitted. The first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, Its destruction was enormous, but Japan still did not appear willing to surrender. On the morning of August 6 in America, radio stations played a recorded address by President Truman. He announced the use of the atomic bomb and issued a warning to the Japanese that more atomic bombs could be used against their homeland.
The Japanese government continued to reject calls for surrender. The city of Nagasaki was attacked with another atomic bomb on August 9, Whether or not the dropping of the second atomic bomb was necessary has long been debated. Over the decades, it was generally taught that the use of the atomic bomb was to end the war. By , Szilard instead feared the use of an American bomb. During the months before the Trinity test in July, Szilard drafted a petition among the Manhattan Project scientists in an attempt to avert wartime use of the bomb against Japan.
Stimson before the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Einstein, for his part, never worked on the Manhattan Project as he was denied a security clearance in because of his pacifist beliefs. The Einstein-Szilard letter remains one of the most iconic documents in American history. In January , Warren Buffett told students at Columbia University, "If you think about it, we are sitting here, in part, because of two Jewish immigrants who in in August signed the most important letter perhaps in the history of the United States. Browse our collection of oral histories with workers, families, service members, and more about their experiences in the Manhattan Project. Sense of Place. Skip to main content. The Einstein-Szilard Letter - History Page Type:. Manhattan Project History.
Leo Szilard. Tuesday, July 18, Origins of the Letter The announcement in early that German scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann had discovered fission prompted fears that Germany might develop an atomic bomb. Enter Albert Einstein The scientists decided that Albert Einstein, who personally knew the Queen of Belgium, would be the ideal person to send warning of the German threat. Changing History Sachs was adamant that he should deliver the letter to President Roosevelt in person and that he should actually read it aloud to him.
