USA HISTORY

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM(1890 1919)

THE UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR I

[SOURCES]
Following the death of FDR, he become the President of the US; he made the ultimate decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan.

(A) Herbert Hoover

(B) Dwight D. Eisenhower

(C) ** Harry S. Truman

(D) Thomas Dewey

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -After President Roosevelt died on April 12th, 1945, it became Harry Truman’s job to decide how to end the war. The thought of invading Japan gave Truman and his advisors pause. The war had shown that the Japanese were fighting for the Emperor who convinced them that it was better to die than surrender.

Concept note-2: -Truman did not seek to destroy Japanese culture or people; the goal was to destroy Japan’s ability to make war. So, on the morning of August 6, 1945, the American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped the world’s first atom bomb over the city of Hiroshima.

Concept note-3: -In recent years historians and policy analysts have questioned President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan. For President Truman, the decision was a clear-cut one. In 1945, America was weary of war.

Concept note-4: -Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work. Two were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed. In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations, hopefully established to preserve peace.

Concept note-5: -It looked increasingly likely that the United States would have to commit itself to a land invasion, which could have claimed many American lives. Instead, the atomic bomb served as a tool to bring the war in the Pacific to a close sooner.