President Truman and the United States Government had many alternatives to dropping the atomic on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945. The United States could take part in a land invasion of Japan in order to fight surrender out of them. Waiting for Russia to break their Japanese neutrality act and attack Japan was also a very viable option presented to Truman while he was deliberating dropping the atomic bombs. Unfortunately, there were very good reasons why both of these options were pushed aside. First, the United States had already lost, so many soldiers to the war even with them joining the war later then the other countries. A land war in Japan would cause many more lives to be lost and no one could guarantee it would result in a
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First, of course, was the unimaginable death toll. By the time Truman was deliberating, over 6o million people had already died in the war. The idea of losing even more soldiers greatly deterred Truman from a land invasion or any other course of action that would force him to send more of his people into battle and possibly to their death. Another factor that influenced President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb was the unknown number of how long the war would continue if he didn’t. The war had been going on since 1939 and everyone involved (even the United States who had been involved the shortest of the superpowers) were very much ready for the war to be over. The costs of the war not only included lives, but also included money, which every country was running out of. So many countries were in debt to each other at this point in the war because no country could afford the costs of weapons, soldiers, supplies and machinery needed for the war. Another factor that influenced President Truman to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was the fact that it was ready. The Manhattan project had been going on for three years by the time the atomic bomb was ready to be used. Nearly 130,000 worked at some point in the process of creating the bomb and it cost the United States Government over $2 billion dollars to fund the project. …show more content…
War clouds judgment and takes a major toll on leaders and their countries. President Truman ultimately decided to drop the bomb because it was there for him to use to end the second biggest war within 20 years. Truman had to do what right for his country, like his people voted him to do. He saved American lives by dropping the atomic bomb on Japan and at the time, that idea of ending the war quickly with no more American deaths greatly outweighed the factors against dropping the
First, of course, was the unimaginable death toll. By the time Truman was deliberating, over 6o million people had already died in the war. The idea of losing even more soldiers greatly deterred Truman from a land invasion or any other course of action that would force him to send more of his people into battle and possibly to their death. Another factor that influenced President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb was the unknown number of how long the war would continue if he didn’t. The war had been going on since 1939 and everyone involved (even the United States who had been involved the shortest of the superpowers) were very much ready for the war to be over. The costs of the war not only included lives, but also included money, which every country was running out of. So many countries were in debt to each other at this point in the war because no country could afford the costs of weapons, soldiers, supplies and machinery needed for the war. Another factor that influenced President Truman to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was the fact that it was ready. The Manhattan project had been going on for three years by the time the atomic bomb was ready to be used. Nearly 130,000 worked at some point in the process of creating the bomb and it cost the United States Government over $2 billion dollars to fund the project. …show more content…
War clouds judgment and takes a major toll on leaders and their countries. President Truman ultimately decided to drop the bomb because it was there for him to use to end the second biggest war within 20 years. Truman had to do what right for his country, like his people voted him to do. He saved American lives by dropping the atomic bomb on Japan and at the time, that idea of ending the war quickly with no more American deaths greatly outweighed the factors against dropping the