I always go back to Harry Truman: Should we drop an atomic bomb to save 100,000 lives? That's a hell of a decision to make. Did he make that decision by himself? No, he had advisers.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Harry Truman, with what he did in dropping and having the guts to drop the bomb in 1944, saved - saved millions of American lives.
I liked Truman very much. He was precise and businesslike. After a while, it was his turn.
At the time it seriously troubled me, but in drafting me as Marshall Plan Administrator, President Truman did as great a favor for me as one man can do for another. It opened my eyes to many things of which I was totally unaware and it was the beginning of my real education.
There was no military reason to drop atomic bombs on Japan. They were used as terrorist weapons - killing innocent people to influence other people.
My favourite president, and the one I admired most, was Harry Truman.
Responsible statesmen have only one choice - to do everything possible to prevent a nuclear catastrophe. Any other position is short-sighted; more so, it is suicidal.
Some think the worst horrors of war might be avoided by an international agreement not to use atomic bombs. This is a vain hope.
The decision to use the atom bomb on Japanese cities, and the consequent buildup of enormous nuclear arsenals, was made by governments, on the basis of political and military perceptions.
The atom bomb was no 'great decision.' It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.
Every President I think I've ever known, except Truman, has thought they didn't quite get done what they wanted done. And toward the end of their Administrations, they were disappointed and wished they had done some things differently.