President Truman made a public statement explaining the atomic bomb's effects on Hiroshima sixteen hours after it had been dropped, and then made another short statement shortly before the second bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. The main points of his first statement are that a bomb with "more power than 20,000 tons of TNT" had been dropped on an "Important Japanese Army base". He then explains how much time, effort and money went into developing the bomb. After this is all explined, Truman starts to talk about how these bombs were going to be used to create "a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth".
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/calendar/viewpapers.php?pid=100
^Link to Truman's Statement^
Truman wrote in his diary on July 25, 1945 that he had ordered the bomb be used in Japan, but on a purely military target, so that "soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children". After time, it turned out they needed to test the bomb on a purely residential target to realize the full potential of the bomb.
On August 9, 1945, President Truman says "I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb... It is an awful responsibility which has come to us... We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes."
Truman explains to the American public the importance of the Atomic Bomb for America's victory in the war, and that if they were not used then Japan would continue to attack the American soldiers. This, in the end, would take many more lives than ending the war with a couple of bombs, causing a surrender. Truman also (in his August 6 statement) announces that the power of the atomic bomb would be a viable source of power if more funding and support went into it after the $2 billion (now worth over $21 billion) used to develop the weapon itself.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/calendar/viewpapers.php?pid=100
^Link to Truman's Statement^
Truman wrote in his diary on July 25, 1945 that he had ordered the bomb be used in Japan, but on a purely military target, so that "soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children". After time, it turned out they needed to test the bomb on a purely residential target to realize the full potential of the bomb.
On August 9, 1945, President Truman says "I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb... It is an awful responsibility which has come to us... We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes."
Truman explains to the American public the importance of the Atomic Bomb for America's victory in the war, and that if they were not used then Japan would continue to attack the American soldiers. This, in the end, would take many more lives than ending the war with a couple of bombs, causing a surrender. Truman also (in his August 6 statement) announces that the power of the atomic bomb would be a viable source of power if more funding and support went into it after the $2 billion (now worth over $21 billion) used to develop the weapon itself.
