Truman

            
             The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the end to the world's largest armed conflict. Over the past years many debates have surfaced over the ethics and morals of such an attack. The bomb itself caused massive numbers of casualties while the unknown effects of radiation caused many more deaths among the survivors of the blast. Despite the horrid effects of the weapon, it seemed to offer the best answer for a quick and easy defeat on Japan. President Harry S. Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb to end World War II has and will always be a topic for debate. Before I begin to show both sides of the debate, here is a little background of the events which took place. .
             President Truman took over the office of the president on April 12, 1945 after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died suddenly. FDR had taken no steps to prepare his successor for the serious and difficult problems that lay ahead. Truman was completely unaware of the development of nuclear weapons which had been taking place over the past few years until the day he took over the presidency. He quickly found out the development of the atomic bomb was nicknamed the "Manhattan Project" and it began in 1939 and more than two billion dollars had been spent on its development. The name "Manhattan Project" was derived from the Manhattan Engineer District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The majority of the research for this project was done in New York City. Many U.S. scientists expressed the fear that Hitler may attempt to build the bomb first. This scared one man in particular. .
             A scientist named Albert Einstein took it upon himself to write a letter to FDR pleading for his support to further research the nuclear bomb. FDR agreed to Einstein's request and established "The Fission Bomb Project." The project was given only around six thousand dollars when it first begun. It was headed by a scientist named Vannevar Bush.