Truman relied heavily on the advice of experts to inform his decision making. Nuclear scientists who supported a demonstration of the bomb before it was used against the Japanese homeland were denied an audience with President Truman; he never knew of their reservations. Military strategists supported using the new, powerful atomic weapons that they believed would save American lives by quickly ending the war.
–President Harry S. Truman
–U.S. government report, 1963
Major General Leslie R. Groves, who was in charge of the Manhattan Project.
The Manhattan Project was the code name of the top-secret effort to develop the atomic bomb. The United States spent $2 billion developing the atomic bomb, and the first atomic test, code named Trinity, took place on July 16, 1945.
The Interim Committee
In May 1945, the Interim Committee, which included several key scientists from the Manhattan Project, was created to advise President Truman on the proper use of atomic weapons in wartime. The committee weighed several different uses of the atomic bomb, all with the goal of convincing Japan to surrender:
Which option would you recommend to President Truman, and why?
Click below and read what the Interim Committee advised Truman to do.
On June 1, 1945, the Interim Committee advised dropping the atomic bomb, without warning, on the Japanese homeland: “The present view of the Committee was that the bomb should be used against Japan as soon as possible; that it be used on a war plant surrounded by workers’ homes; and that it be used without prior warning.”
The Interim Committee ultimately decided against any demonstration of the bomb for fear the bomb might be a dud and that such a demonstration would remove the element of surprise and shock. Another factor influencing the committee’s recommendation was that the United States had spent $2 billion developing the atomic bomb. There was great pressure to get the bomb into production before the war in the Pacific was over.