Harry Truman

             Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration, which called for Japan's unconditional surrender and listed peace terms. It was while Truman was at Potsdam that he received a most unusual message. 'Babies satisfactorily born,' the coded message read. Those three words spelled the beginning of the Atomic age. Now a weapon, more devastating than any other in history, was available for use against the Japanese (Collins, 1988, p.75). Military advisers had told Truman that a potential loss of about 500,000 American soldiers could be avoided if the bomb were used against Japan. When Japan rejected the ultimatum, Truman authorized use of the bomb. On August 6, 1945,at 9:15 AM Tokyo time, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, virtually destroying the city. According to U.S. estimates, about 60,000 to 70,000 people were killed or missing as a result of the bomb and many more were made homeless. Stalin sent troops into Manchuria and Korea on August 8, and the following day a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. This one had about 40,000casualties, and destroyed about one-third of the city. Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
             Since the war had ended, Truman addressed the problem of reconverting the country to peacetime production, without causing inflation and unemployment like after World War I. He requested a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission to aid blacks; wage, price, and rent controls to slow inflation; extended old-age benefits; public housing; a national health insurance program; and a higher minimum wage. Congressional leaders who thought that he wanted to move too far and too fast opposed this. Increased prices led to strikes for higher wages, particularly in basic industries. Truman had always been on the side of labor, but he would not allow strikes to paralyze the nation. He offended labor unions by using executive orders and court injunctions to end striking.