Name:
Class Debate
Truman’s Choice:
American Hero… or the Butcher of Asia?
Introduction
It is perhaps the greatest moral and political debate of all time: the decision to drop the two atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. No decision ever made by an American President has ever provoked
such passionate debate and strong opinions. In making the decision to drop those two bombs, some argue that
Truman was an American hero. Others argue that he is nothing less than a war criminal, the “Butcher of Asia.”
Imagine that you were in President Harry Truman’s shoes in 1945. What would YOU have done if you were
President Truman, based on the information that was available at the time, in the summer of 1945?
Assignment for tonight
Skim through the website readings given to you. Highlight key facts, quotes, and other concrete ideas that support
the side of the argument indicated on the front page. The readings are made up of both secondary sources
(articles, book excerpts, etc.) and of primary sources (Truman’s diaries, first hand accounts, etc.) You so scan
through the websites and fill out the graphic organizer below to support both position.
Readings
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pfatomictest.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/us/51g.asp
http://seattletimes.com/special/trinity/supplement/procon.html
http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html
http://www.markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/history/16th/debatingissues_ww2.html
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/debate/index.asp?article=0514
Pro- Truman:
http://www.dannen.com/ae-fdr.html
Anti- Truman:
http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/atomicdec.htm
http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/atomic.htm#Critical
Tomorrow
You will break into groups to prepare for the debate, and you will work together to organize your best arguments in
the graphic organizer found here. Then, we will divide up and have a spirited debate, followed by a written
reflection on the whole debate.
Pro-Truman

Anti-Truman

Atomic
Bomb
Questionnaire
In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in which he warned the President
of the possible existence of an atomic energy. Einstein said:
This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable— though much
less certain—that extremely powerful bombs of this type may thus be constructed. A single bomb of this
type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of
the surrounding territory.
With this warning, Roosevelt authorized the creation of a secret project – The Manhattan Project. The
purpose of this project was to develop a usable atomic device. Scientists around the country descended on
New Mexico. They didn’t really think about what they were building until their creation was clearly
becoming a reality. Some questioned the morality of their work.
Dr. Farrington Daniels, the director of the Met. Lab at the University of Chicago, polled 150 scientists
working on the atomic bomb, in order to get their views on how the bomb should be used.
Activity
1. Rank the following uses for the atomic bomb (as if you were a scientist in 1945) from 1 to 5 (1 being
most desirable, 5 being least desirable)
____ Use the bombs in a manner that, from a military point of view, is most effective in bringing prompt
surrender at a minimum human cost to the US.
____ Give a military demonstration in Japan to be followed by a renewed opportunity for surrender before
full use of the weapon is employed.
____ Give an experimental demonstration in this country, with representatives of Japan present; followed
by a new opportunity to surrender before full use of the weapon is employed.
____ Withhold military use of the weapon, but make public experimental demonstration of its
effectiveness.
____ Maintain as secret as possible all developments of our new weapons and refrain from using them in
this war.