Harry S. Truman

==== Dropping atomic bombs on Japan ====
Truman benefited from a honeymoon period from the success in defeating Nazi Germany in Europe and the nation celebrated {{Nowrap|[[V-E Day]]}} on May 8, 1945, his 61st birthday.{{sfn|McCoy|1984|pp=21–22}}

Although Truman was told briefly on the afternoon of April 12 that he had a new, highly destructive weapon, it was not until April 25 that [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Henry Stimson]] told him the details:{{sfn|Dallek|2008|pp=19–20}}

{{Blockquote|We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.|Harry Truman, writing about the atomic bomb in his diary{{sfn|Reynolds|2005}} on July 25, 1945<ref>{{cite book |last=Alexrod |first=Alan | title=The Real History of the Cold War: A New Look at the Past | publisher=Sterling |page= 56}}</ref>}}

Truman journeyed to Berlin for the [[Potsdam Conference]] with [[Joseph Stalin]] and the British leader [[Winston Churchill]]. He was there when he learned the [[Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity test]]—the first atomic bomb—on July 16 had been successful. He hinted to Stalin that he was about to use a new kind of weapon against the Japanese. Though this was the first time the Soviets had been officially given information about the atomic bomb, Stalin was already aware of the bomb project—having learned about it through [[atomic spies|atomic espionage]] long before Truman did.{{sfn|PBS|2012}}{{sfn|Truman|1955|p=416}}{{sfn|McCoy|1984|p= 37}}

In August, the Japanese government refused surrender demands as specifically outlined in the [[Potsdam Declaration]]. With the [[Operation Downfall|invasion of Japan]] imminent, Truman approved the schedule for dropping the two available bombs. Truman maintained the position that attacking Japan with atomic bombs saved many lives on both sides; a military estimate for the invasion of Japan submitted to Truman by Herbert Hoover indicated that an invasion could take at least a year and result in 500,000 to 1,000,000 Allied casualties.<ref>{{cite book | last = Frank | first = Richard B. | author-link =  Richard B. Frank | year = 1999 | title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | pages = 122 | publisher = Random House | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-679-41424-7}}</ref> A study done for the staff of Secretary of War [[Henry L. Stimson]] by William Shockley estimated that invading Japan would cost 1.7–4 million American casualties, including 400,000–800,000 fatalities, and five to ten million Japanese fatalities if Japanese civilians participated in the defense of Japan.<ref>{{cite book | last = Frank | first = Richard B. | author-link =  Richard B. Frank | year = 1999 | title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | pages = 340 | publisher = Random House | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-679-41424-7}}</ref> The U.S. Army Service Forces estimated in their document "Redeployment of the United States Army after the Defeat of Germany," that between June 1945 and December 1946 the Army would be required to furnish replacements for 43,000 dead and evacuated wounded every month during this period.<ref>[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll8/id/1800 History of Planning Division, Army Service Forces vol. 9] Part 7, p. 330. Retrieved 11/15/2023</ref> From analysis of the replacement schedule and projected strengths in overseas theaters, it suggested that Army losses alone in those categories, excluding the Navy and Marine Corps, would be approximately 863,000 through the first part of 1947, of whom 267,000 would be killed or missing.<ref>[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll8/id/1800 History of Planning Division, Army Service Forces vol. 9] Part 8, pp. 372-374, 391. Retrieved 11/15/2023</ref>
[[File:Atomic bombing of Japan.jpg|thumb|The [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] on August 6 and 9, 1945 respectively, were authorized by President Truman at the end of World War II]]
Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, and Nagasaki three days later, leaving 105,000&nbsp;dead.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml|title=Total Casualties – The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|work=atomicarchive.com|access-date=December 16, 2016}}</ref> The Soviet Union [[Soviet–Japanese War|declared war on Japan]] on August 9 and [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invaded Manchuria]]. Japan [[Surrender of Japan|agreed to surrender]] the following day.{{sfn|Miller|1974|pp=227–231}}{{sfn|Dallek|2008|pp= 24–28}}

[[File: Photograph of President Truman in the Oval Office, reading the announcement of Japan's surrender to assembled... - NARA - 199171.jpg|thumb|Truman announces Japan's surrender, August 14, 1945.]]

Supporters{{efn|For example, see {{cite book| last1 = Fussell | first1=Paul | title = Thank God for the Atomic Bomb and Other Essays | chapter = Thank God for the Atomic Bomb | publisher = New York Summit Books | year = 1988 | author-link = Paul Fussell}}}} of Truman's decision argue that, given the tenacious Japanese defense of the outlying islands, the bombings saved hundreds of thousands of lives of Allied prisoners, Japanese civilians, and combatants on both sides that would have been lost in an invasion of Japan. Some modern criticism has argued that the use of nuclear weapons was unnecessary, given that conventional attacks or a demonstrative bombing of an uninhabited area might have forced Japan's surrender, and therefore assert that the attack constituted a crime of war.<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Ronald C | last1 = Kramer | first2 = David | last2 = Kauzlarich | title = Nuclear weapons, international law, and the normalization of state crime | editor1-first = Dawn | editor1-last = Rothe | editor2-first = Christopher W | editor2-last = Mullins | work = State crime: Current perspectives | year = 2011 | pages = 94–121|isbn=978-0-8135-4901-9}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11650752/US-museum-must-call-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki-war-crimes-say-Japanese.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11650752/US-museum-must-call-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki-war-crimes-say-Japanese.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=US museum must call Hiroshima and Nagasaki 'war crimes', say Japanese|first=Julian|last=Ryall|date=June 4, 2015|access-date=June 8, 2018|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://iwj.co.jp/wj/open/archives/254448|title=「なんであんな殺され方をしたのか、私は知りたい。あの世で、ちゃんとお兄ちゃんに説明できるように」――原爆投下から70年。広島の被爆者が語った原爆被害と戦争への思い – IWJ Independent Web Journal|date=August 6, 2015|website=iwj.co.jp|access-date=June 8, 2018}}</ref> In 1948 Truman defended his decision to use atomic bombs:

{{Blockquote|As President of the United States, I had the fateful responsibility of deciding whether or not to use this weapon for the first time. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make. But the President cannot duck hard problems—he cannot pass the buck. I made the decision after discussions with the ablest men in our Government, and after long and prayerful consideration. I decided that the bomb should be used to end the war quickly and save countless lives—Japanese as well as American.<ref>October 14, 1948 address in {{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=13049|title=Harry S. Truman: Address in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.|website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=June 8, 2018}}</ref>}}

Truman continued to strongly defend himself in his memoirs in 1955–1956, stating many lives could have been lost had the United States invaded mainland Japan without the atomic bombs. In 1963, he stood by his decision, telling a journalist "it was done to save 125,000&nbsp;youngsters on the U.S. side and 125,000 on the Japanese side from getting killed and that is what it did. It probably also saved a half million youngsters on both sides from being maimed for life."<ref>{{cite book |title=Nuclear Weapons |page=11 |date=May 30, 2006 | first =William | last = Lambers |publisher=William K Lambers |isbn= 0-9724629-4-5}}</ref>