Harry Truman Research Paper
Truman Essay
For Harry Truman the choice whether to use the bomb or not to use the bomb was one of the most difficult decisions of his life. The American soldiers and civilians were exhausted from four years of war, but still the Japanese military refused to give up there fight. American forces where occupying Okinawa and Iwo Jima and were intensely fire bombing Japanese cities. Japan had an army of 2 million, and they were staying strong. They stationed them selves in the home islands guarding against any invasion. The Allies demanded for immediate surrender, although the demand said that refusal would result in total destruction, there was no mention of any weapon of mass destruction. The Japanese military refused to surrender. On August …show more content…
Truman relieved Douglas MacArthur of command of the U.S. forces in Korea. The dismissal of MacArthur set off a brief uproar among the American public, but Truman remained committed to keeping the conflict in Korea a “limited war.” Problems with the flamboyant and egotistical General had been brewing for months. In the beginning of the war in Korea the general had devised some brilliant strategies and military maneuvers the helped save South Korea from falling to the invading forces of North Korea. As U.S. and United Nations forces turned the tide of battle in Korea, MacArthur argued for a policy of pushing into North Korea to completely defeat the communist forces. Truman went along with this plan, but worried that the communist government of the People's Republic of China might take the invasion as a hostile act and intervene in the conflict. In October 1950, MacArthur met with Truman and assured him that the chances of a Chinese intervention were slim. Then, in November and December 1950, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops crossed into North Korea and flung themselves against the American lines, driving the U.S. troops back into South Korea. MacArthur then asked for permission to bomb communist China and use Nationalist Chinese forces from Taiwan against the People's Republic of China. Truman flatly refused these requests and a very public argument
For Harry Truman the choice whether to use the bomb or not to use the bomb was one of the most difficult decisions of his life. The American soldiers and civilians were exhausted from four years of war, but still the Japanese military refused to give up there fight. American forces where occupying Okinawa and Iwo Jima and were intensely fire bombing Japanese cities. Japan had an army of 2 million, and they were staying strong. They stationed them selves in the home islands guarding against any invasion. The Allies demanded for immediate surrender, although the demand said that refusal would result in total destruction, there was no mention of any weapon of mass destruction. The Japanese military refused to surrender. On August …show more content…
Truman relieved Douglas MacArthur of command of the U.S. forces in Korea. The dismissal of MacArthur set off a brief uproar among the American public, but Truman remained committed to keeping the conflict in Korea a “limited war.” Problems with the flamboyant and egotistical General had been brewing for months. In the beginning of the war in Korea the general had devised some brilliant strategies and military maneuvers the helped save South Korea from falling to the invading forces of North Korea. As U.S. and United Nations forces turned the tide of battle in Korea, MacArthur argued for a policy of pushing into North Korea to completely defeat the communist forces. Truman went along with this plan, but worried that the communist government of the People's Republic of China might take the invasion as a hostile act and intervene in the conflict. In October 1950, MacArthur met with Truman and assured him that the chances of a Chinese intervention were slim. Then, in November and December 1950, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops crossed into North Korea and flung themselves against the American lines, driving the U.S. troops back into South Korea. MacArthur then asked for permission to bomb communist China and use Nationalist Chinese forces from Taiwan against the People's Republic of China. Truman flatly refused these requests and a very public argument