The Atomic Bomb Helpful or Harmful Essay -- essays papers

The Atomic Bomb Helpful or Harmful There used to be a time in America when the name â€Å"Atomic Bomb† seemed fictional to some, non existent to others,and seemed only a dream to those in the science world. That time is long gone.The day that changed all ideas and opinions about what war was and what is has evolved to be was August 6,1945. President Truman had decided to drop the Atomic bomb in order to end the war and save as many lives as possible. The United States had dropped the bomb on Hiroshima in order to end the war almost instantly and avoid bloody invasion, thereby saving both American and Japanese lives. Whether or not to drop the atomic bomb was president Truman’s decision, faced with this decision Truman researched and asked advisors to share their ideas about the bomb and then made the best decision for the American and Japanese people. â€Å" In an invasion of Japan,the fighting would have been more savage, and the number of lives lost on both sides would of been tragic.†(O’Neal 35) The Atomic bomb was essential in helping to put and en d to the war and saving lives. The decision to drop the atomic bomb was made by President Truman . In his decision he states, â€Å" The only thing that was the right thing to do for the American and Japanese people was to end the war through the use of the atomic bomb.† ( O’Neal 36) Why all the controversy over the bomb? Historians and people today continue to ask this question along with others. Were the Japanese seriously considering surrendering before the bomb was let off, and was the only way the war could of been ended ended was throughout the bomb? The atomic bomb saved lives on both sides and served it’s purpose of helping to end the war. The facts remain the Atomic Bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima killed many civilians, but if the war continued to go on it would of killed many more. When President Truman walked in to the White House he had problems and decisions lying ahead of him that he knew little about.In his first few days of briefing from advisors and committee he had said,†I have to decide Japanese strategy-shall we invade Japan proper or shall we bomb and blockade? That is my hardest decision to date .but I’ll make it when I have all the facts. â€Å"(Takaki 26) As you can see Truman had no intention of making uneducated decisions and he was by no means in a rush to bo... ...tomic bomb was being assembled at the time and it was to be let off on Tokyo, that bomb was never used. The 500,000 lives that were saved in bombing Hiroshima compared to the 100,000 that died in the bombing shows that Truman did in fact make the best decision when lives were at stake. Bibliography: Alperovitz, Gar. The Use of the Atomic Bomb. Chicago : D.C. Heath and Company, 1974. Blow, Michael. The History of the Atomic Bomb. New York ,New York:American Heritage Publishing and Company Inc., 1968. Feis, Herbert. The Atomic Bomb and the end of World War II. Chicago: Princeston University Press, 1866. Kurzman, Dan. Day of the Bomb. New York: McGraw- Hill Book Company, 1986. Nardo, Don. Modern Japan. California: Lucent Books, 1995. O’Neal, Michael. President Truman and the Atomic Bomb. San Diego,California Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1990. Takaki, Ronald. Hiroshima. Canada: Little Brown and Company Limited, 1995. Wheeler, Keith. World WarII Time Life Books. Virginia: Time Life Books Inc., 1983. Wyden, Peter. Day One Before Hiroshima and After. New York: Simon and Schustler, 1984.