The Colossal Decision to Deploy an Atomic Weapon: An Individuals Impact on Society :: Essays Papers

The Colossal Decision to Deploy an Atomic Weapon: An Individual's Impact on Society Never before in recorded history has there been an event that has take so many lives in one instant. On the day of August 6, 1945 the first atomic device ever detonated was deployed on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. It is recorded that sixty percent of Hiroshima was destroyed in this offensive maneuver. Seventy-eight thousand human beings lost their lives at 8:15 a.m.1 The man directly responsible for this attack was the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. While it is true that individuals are for the most part guinea pigs to society, there arises one striking exception to this rule: the leaders of our modern age. The impact this certain individual had on society is inconceivable, and to fully understand Truman's decision to drop an atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we must understand the momentous forces driving him to this means to an end. There were many different circumstances pushing Truman to his decision to use this secret weapon against the Japanese. There were moral issues, military issues, and of course Truman and his closely-knit circle of advisors had to examine the impact of this use of atomic energy on the future of our planet. In the end, however, the opposing forces proved slight enough for Truman to overrule. The first barrier to using a weapon of such destructive capabilities is personal morality. It would be very reasonable to think that it would be an impossibility for one person to authorize the destruction of so many others. This issue turned out to be one of small importance for Truman for many reasons. First, the American public had a moral advantage in that the Japanese bombed us first at Pearl Harbor. Also, as Truman himself stated, "†¦ was either that or the atomic bomb, and I didn't hesitate a minute, and I've never lost any sleep over it since."2 This indicates his main reason for not having any moral qualms with this bombing, the consequences if he didn't drop the bomb. The most important of these was the expected American casualties if we chose invasion over the bomb. However, if Truman new the greusome effects the deployment of this weapon would have upon the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagisaki, perhaps he would have hesitated. To see what the effects of the a-bomb on the people and buildings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki click here.