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How Did Truman Make A Barbaric Decision

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In 1945, President Truman had to make the most difficult decision of his life. Truman had to decide if the U.S. would drop an atomic bomb on Japan during WWII. He had a way to end the war with Japan, but doing so would unleash the most deadly weapon ever created.
The U.S. was 4 years into the war with Japan. While the U.S. troops were weary, the Japanese showed no signs of backing down. Truman knew he needed to protect his troops and citizens before anyone else. He made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Before they dropped the bomb, the demanded that Japan would immediately surrender. The warned the Japanese that refusal of this would result in total destruction. However, the Japanese did not surrender.
President Truman had the U.S. military drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan on August 6, 1945. The bomb killed 70,000 Japanese citizens instantly, but they did not surrender. On August 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped another bomb in Nagasaki, which killed 80,000 people. About 185,000 people died from the bombs, instantly and in the months after because of the effects of the radiation. …show more content…

I believe that Truman had to make a decision that was harder than most could imagine. While killing so many people is wrong, it was his job to protect his citizens first. He did not just decide to drop a bomb in a quick minute, this decision was well thought out. The amount of Americans who would die if the war went on any longer was far too great for the President to risk. While it is very tragic what happened in Japan, I believe that Truman made the best decision that he could to try to keep as many people as he could from

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