This paper will show to the reader why Physicist Leo Szilard’s “Petition to the President of the United States” was unsuccessful in persuading President Truman to not use the atomic bomb in Japan during the second world war. The petition drafted by Mr. Szilard and his colleagues lacked empathy, showed no sympathy and failed to convey the evidence needed to persuade Truman. If the petition would have been written in a way to emotionally connect with the President’s difficult decision to use a weapon of mass destruction and internalize the emotions of grief with plausible evidence, then Mr. Szilard would have had a better chance of persuading Truman.
First, without being able to empathize with Truman, Mr. Szilard was unable to show the President …show more content…
Professor Rotter states that “…the thought of suffocation, slow and uncontrollable, touches the deepest place of human fear. It is a primal, helpless death, one of betrayal by the silent unbreathable air; it is slow, unheroic, panic-inducing, ugly. It is not unlike death by radiation” (20). Furthermore, the Frisch–Peierls Memorandum of 1940 warned that energy from an atomic bomb explosion would be in radioactive form and be fatal to all living beings even for a long time after the explosion (Rotter 122). Szilard knew all of this, and saw first had the devastation they created during testing. He arranged a meeting with FDR concerning nuclear weapons to take place in May, unfortunately FDR passed away a month earlier in April (Rotter 149). Mr. Szilard could have articulated this better in his petition to reflect on his friendship with Einstein and the fact he had tried to speak with FDR.
In conclusion, it is evident that Mr. Szilard sold his self and his colleagues short in trying to convey in his “Petition to the President of the United States” that Truman should not use the atomic bomb. While his petition contained substantial ethos it was deficient in the emotional appeal and logical reasoning. Due to the lack of empathy, no sympathy or evidence, Mr. Szilard’s “Petition to the President of the United States was
First, without being able to empathize with Truman, Mr. Szilard was unable to show the President …show more content…
Professor Rotter states that “…the thought of suffocation, slow and uncontrollable, touches the deepest place of human fear. It is a primal, helpless death, one of betrayal by the silent unbreathable air; it is slow, unheroic, panic-inducing, ugly. It is not unlike death by radiation” (20). Furthermore, the Frisch–Peierls Memorandum of 1940 warned that energy from an atomic bomb explosion would be in radioactive form and be fatal to all living beings even for a long time after the explosion (Rotter 122). Szilard knew all of this, and saw first had the devastation they created during testing. He arranged a meeting with FDR concerning nuclear weapons to take place in May, unfortunately FDR passed away a month earlier in April (Rotter 149). Mr. Szilard could have articulated this better in his petition to reflect on his friendship with Einstein and the fact he had tried to speak with FDR.
In conclusion, it is evident that Mr. Szilard sold his self and his colleagues short in trying to convey in his “Petition to the President of the United States” that Truman should not use the atomic bomb. While his petition contained substantial ethos it was deficient in the emotional appeal and logical reasoning. Due to the lack of empathy, no sympathy or evidence, Mr. Szilard’s “Petition to the President of the United States was