The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed the United States naval facility known as This attack brought the United States into World War Two. Within the four years that followed, the United States--under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt-- researched and developed an atomic bomb. This was known as the Manhattan Project. Such a bomb was more powerful and destructive than any ever known to man. After FDR died on April 12, 1945, the decision to drop the bomb was left in the hands of the new president, Harry S. Truman. On July 25, 1945, President Truman gave the order to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Twelve days later, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, exploding with the force of 15,000 tons of TNT and reaching 5400 degrees Fahrenheit instantly (Gup 80). Six days later, Nagasaki was hit with a second atomic bomb. These decisions changed society's perception of warfare for generations to come. Thousands of lives were ended. Most of these were civilians and prisoners of war. There were several alternatives to dropping the bomb. The introduction of this weapon began a nuclear arms race. Some say that the atomic bomb saved lives, yet thousands were killed. President Harry Truman made the wrong decision in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the bombs killed thousands of civilians.When the bomb hit Hiroshima, 350,000 people were exposed (Gup 89). The population of the city of Hiroshima was about 290,000. Of these, 40,000 were military and 20,000 were Korean forced laborers. There have even been records showing that there were at least 23 American POW's murdered (Gup 89). When the bomb dropped, between 80,000 and 100,000 people were killed (Stokesbury 494). Most of these were civilians. By the end of the year, 140,000 more people were dead as a result of radiation from the blast. (Note: these figures may vary slightly due to the fact that many r...
