Roosevelt and Truman

During the beginning of World War II Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President of the United States and had the responsibility of the war on his shoulders. His Vice President Harry Truman and Roosevelt had a relationship that was questionable. President Roosevelt in a way would keep Truman in the dark about the Atom Bomb project also called the “Manhattan Project”. The decisions leading up to the actual dropping of the bomb are shady and filled with controversy. The main political question is why Roosevelt did not converse did with Truman as much as he did on such a big event. If Truman were more in the know what would the effects or general outcome turn out to be?

Before the war started Roosevelt was outraged with the savage strikes from Japan to China and the Nazi’s strong European offensive, he knew that if war to start the key would be possess a strong Air Force with long-range capabilities. So spoke with General Henry Arnold and started the development of the B-29 (the plane which dropped the Atom Bomb). Without the approval or knowledge of Truman he risks what is called a “three-billion-dollar gamble” and begins the project. With Roosevelt finally letting Truman in his plans along with General Arnold they decide they will need a way to end the war if it gets out of hand. After Truman and Roosevelt agree on this Roosevelt thinks he has let Truman in enough.

With the death of Roosevelt looming Truman’s part after his death would be even more important. Since Roosevelt made Truman have a very little part in the nuclear program the country thought Truman would make the wrong choice once Roosevelt had died. If Truman was more involved with the “Manhattan Project” during Roosevelt’s life the outcome of the bomb drop could have been different. Truman overall decision to drop the Atom bomb was influenced more by the top military generals and the sheer devotion of the Japanese soldiers, who would not stop killing until the war had ended. Truman’s decision could have been different and create a different ending to his war. Without the atom bomb being dropped the outcome of the war would completely different. Japan would have been speared a major catastrophe and we would be viewed differently and maybe with less hate. A less violent way could have been used to end the war like; threatening Japan that we have a device that could end the war, but tell them we don’t want to use it. If the Japanese didn’t accept it that would be their problem and we could say that we warned them. In my opinion we should have told them we have it and not just randomly drop two giant bombs causing a mass amount of people to die and major cities destroyed creating wide-spread hate.

Truman’s decision shocked everyone and with the dropping of the Atom Bomb single-handedly ends the war in the pacific. In a way the decision is what Roosevelt wanted the whole time because he wanted to just drop the bomb and end the war. The people of the country applauded Truman’s choice because no one wanted the war to drag out like World War I and people wanted to bring home the troops. Roosevelt’s choice to shadow Truman during the “Manhattan Project” is strange and could have been handled differently. Together they could have made a better decision and maybe try to end the war in a more peaceful way.--Word Count 586--