Although there were many successful presidents in office, Harry S. Truman was one of the most successful. Truman made the fateful decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan which ended World War II. President Harry S. Truman gained his success by using his military and diplomatic powers to lead the U.S. during the Korean War, utilizing his legislative powers to create the Fair Deal and issue the Marshall Plan, and employing his executive powers to abolish racial discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces in Executive Order 9981. The four powers Truman used led to his popularity and success as president throughout the 20th, and 21st Centuries. One of President Truman’s most portentous accomplishments as president was the order of the atomic bombs …show more content…
on Japan to end World War II. Truman used his military and diplomatic powers early on in his administration by dropping the first and only atomic bombs ever used in war to end the crisis. It was only a couple months into presidency when Truman had to make the important decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of his military powers made him very popular amongst the people of the U.S. but also put him under a lot of stress, due to the fact that Roosevelt had just died and he had to take role as President. Truman proclaimed, “‘I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me’” (Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey). Harry was very stressed out, but used his military and diplomatic powers to make the key decisions to keep the U.S. safe from foreign countries. When the bombs were dropped over the Japanese cities nearly 220,000 Japanese were killed which led to the surrendering of Japan on September 2, 1945. Although, some people would disagree with the bombing of Japan because there were over 200,000 people killed. Most of the people were civilians which made people angry at Truman for bombing Japan. Truman used his diplomatic powers to come up with a resolution with the United Nations to either attack North Korea or hold back. The U.S. and U.N. decided to send troops into the war between South Korea and North Korea to put an end to fight. Although, the countries ended up bringing more countries into the battle.MacArthur, the general of the U.S. army, told Truman that Korea came together as one again. Although, “MacArthur had miscalculated... China reacted to the United States's success by joining the war on the North Koreans' side” (The Harry S. Truman Administrations). This was bad news for the U.S. to which they were then driven down the Korean peninsula. Truman then wanted to negotiate a truce with South Korea, not wanted the war to spread throughout the world. MacArthur disagreed with Truman and wanted to defeat China and North Korea, but Truman became furious with his imputation. Truman was mad because he was “challenging his authority and fearful that the war might escalate into a third world war” (The Harry. S. Truman Administrations). President Truman took action by relieving MacArthur from the general spot and sending up General Matthew Ridgway to take his position. Some people disagree with Truman’s diplomatic powers over the Korean war because it led to 16 other countries getting involved. Although Truman was the one who decided to start negotiating. A truce was later held when Eisenhower took office after Truman had died. Truman used his diplomatic and military powers in multiple situations when in office and was successful for most of his uses. He also used his legislative powers to create fairness and equality in the U.S. President Truman was a very fair president who wanted what was best for the people. Some of his success came about the way he used his legislative powers. In 1949 Truman held his State of the Union Address in which he first announced his “Fair Deal” plan. President Truman wanted the U.S. to have a stronger economy so he “ believed that the federal government should guarantee economic opportunity and social stability…” (United States History - The Fair Deal). He presented Congress with a 21- point program which consisted of people having a higher minimum wage, providing housing assistance, greater unemployment repayment, health insurance to everyone in the country, and other enactments. Most of his statements were liberal although Congress was made up of a majority of Republicans. Most of Congress disagreed with Truman’s “Fair Deal” plan, even though it would help out the economy of the U.S. dramatically. The deal ended up having limited success with the increase of minimum wage, reduced taxes, and the rate of social security systems had increased around the country. Truman also used his legislative powers, with some diplomatic power, to create and sign the Marshall Plan. This plan gave 13 billion dollars to Europe to rebuild the economies after the end of World War II. It helped out the European economies dramatically because of the devastation of World War II. The Marshall Plan’s main goal was to “stabilize Europe economically and politically so that European nations would not be tempted by the appeal of communist parties” (President Harry Truman Signs Marshall Plan). This plan helped seventeen nations in Europe which made it very successful in itself. Some people would disagree with Truman’s success with the Marshall Plan because it caused the U.S. to lose money which could have been used for something more needed. Although, Truman was very smart about the decisions he made in Congress with other nations and most of his decisions that have been made were successful. Without Truman utilizing his legislative powers as president there could have been a lot more disagreements among the U.S. citizens towards the government. President Truman employed his executive power in office by abolishing racial discrimination in the U.S.
Armed Forces. This was employed in Executive Order 9981 on July of 1948. This Order was very important to the U.S. and the Armed Forces because it marked the “end to racial segregation in the military” (Feng). This meant that any race, gender, and religion could had equal opportunity in the forces. Truman created this Order to increase the amount of troops of the U.S. Army because they would have a more powerful defense towards other nations. He also created it to increase his votes from the “blacks” that made up the majority of the South. Even though some of the military resisted the order it took years to establish the practices and rules of the Order. Truman was very successful with Executive Order 9981 because it won him his second term in office with the “black” votes. Truman was losing to his Republican competitor because of the “Fair Deal” plan that the majority of the people did not approve of until he issued the Order. Although, some people would disagree with his success because they thought of the Order to use “black” people for extra bodies to be killed in the wars fought and for presidential vote. Many people didn’t like the use of extra people in battle because they thought of it as slavery again. Although President Truman only wanted different races and genders to have a stronger military and to become President again. Truman’s Executive Order 9981 satisfied a lot of Americans although some disagreed. Without his executive powers there could still be racism today, he wanted what was best for the
people. President Harry S. Truman was known as one of the most successful Presidents to be in Office. He was put on a lot of stress at the beginning of his presidency with the decision to bomb Japan, which ended World War II. He also used his many powers to make sure the United States was powerful and equal. Truman’s success was gained by utilizing his diplomatic and military powers in the Korean War and World War II, two of the most important wars in U.S. history. Harry also used his legislative powers to gain his success by issuing the Marshall Plan and creating the “Fair Deal”, which both benefited the U.S. dramatically. His succession became even greater after issuing Executive Order 9981 in which ended segregation and abolished racial discrimination in the U.S. military. Without the use of these powers President Truman would not have been successful. He helped foreign countries, cared for the citizens of the U.S. and tried his best to satisfy the needs of the people as much as he could. President Truman showed his great succession through his powers as President.
Due to their choices regarding civil rights, they ended up sacrificing popularity in the South in order to gain support from and protect the black voters in America. At first, Truman avoided civil rights issues for blacks, but soon found that he could not abstain entirely from involvement. In 1948, Truman “endorsed the findings of the report [of the Presidential Committee on Civil Rights] and called for an end to racial discrimination in federal hiring practices” (“Civil Rights Under Truman and Eisenhower”). Truman also issued an order to end segregation in the military, which was later completed by Eisenhower
Following President Truman's Executive Order, two boards were established to make recommendations about integration. A presidential commission chaired by Charles Fahy recommended an end to discrimination in jobs, schooling, assignment, and recruitment. In 1952 it was the Korean War that finally led to the desegregation of the previously all-white combat unit. The main goal of President Truman's Executive Order 9981 was to grant equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. “There shall be created in the National Military Establishment an advisory committee to be known as the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, which shall be composed of seven members to be designated by the President.” He also states that the Committee “shall confer and advise the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Air Force”.
Truman was justified in dropping the Atomic bombs because of the situation at hand, but it is arguable because he had several alternatives. Right after America declared war on Japan, Germany also declared war on the United States. Thereby, causing a dilemma for the United States nation as a whole. If the US didn't finish the war with Japan quickly, they would have trouble backing up the allied powers. However, Truman could have found another way to defeat Japan with a less violent tactic.
It was believed that dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki would resolve a number of problems in a simpler fashion than prolonging the conventional warfare until Japan finally ceded defeat. The primary goal of this extreme force was to bring a swift end to the war in the Pacific,(Walker) but a secondary goal was to display the military and technological might of the United States to allies and rivals around the world (Walker,). The use of multiple nuclear weapons made it clear to Japan and the world that Truman's threat of “utter destruction” was intended to be carried out unless Japan delivered what the United States wanted―unconditional surrender (Cite).
In Prompt and Utter Destruction, J. Samuel Walker provides the reader with an elaborate analysis of President Truman’s decision behind using the atomic bomb in Japan. He provokes the reader to answer the question for himself about whether the use of the bomb was necessary to end the war quickly and without the loss of many American lives. Walker offers historical and political evidence for and against the use of the weapon, making the reader think critically about the issue. He puts the average American into the shoes of the Commander and Chief of the United States of America and forces us to think about the difficulty of Truman’s decision.
Walker, J. Samuel. Prompt and Utter Destruction Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs against Japan, Revised Edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2005. Print.
According to document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty to protect and save American lives And that's exactly what he did. If we did not go through with the atomic bomb, then we would have had to get Japan to surrender another way, yeah we could have put up an economic blockade and continuously bombed them like Admiral William Leahy wanted to do in in document A. Or we could have invaded and lost many more lives in the process, the war would have dragged on costing more American lives and more money for the United States.
Truman, Harry S. Bombing of Hiroshima. 9 Aug. 1945. Speech. Harry S. Truman was the president during the later stages of the war. This primary source was important to me because it shows the president’s view of how the bombers of World War II showed the growing strength of America’s armed forces.
President Harry Truman, 33rd president of the United States, had to face one of the most effective decisions of mankind. The atomic bomb was first served as an idea which was created underneath the United States government. With a nuclear weapon like the atomic bomb, came great responsibility. The idea of how to use and regulate the bomb was not yet implemented. Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb changed the way Americans thought about war because of its traumatic after effects.
A huge proponent to the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9 of 1945 was President Harry Truman. Although they value the ideas and contributions out in by the committee they choose, the president ultimately has the last say on war time decisions. It just so happens that President Truman wanted to drop the bomb. President Truman believed that Japan's leaders would not surrender to the terms outlined in Potsdam meeting. He saw it fit to drop the bombs and end all doubt.
The attack at Pearl Harbor was the event that caused the U.S. to decide to be involved in the war. After this incident, the U.S. was trying to find a way to retaliate and counterattack against Japan. Some thought that the only way to do so was by using atomic bombs. People like, General Dwight Eisenhower, Harry S Truman, and a group of scientists believed that the use of the bomb would do good, and finally end everything. Eisenhower believed that because the use of the atomic bomb was successful in New Mexico, it would also be successful in Japan as well. Harry S Truman thought that even the atomic bomb was the most destructive weapon in the history of the world, it could be made the most useful. He stated that, “it was ...
There are many people who oppose the use of the atomic bombs; though there are some that believe it was a necessity in ending the war. President Truman realized the tragic significance of the atomic bomb and made his decision to use it to shorten the agony of young Americans (“Was the Atomic Bombing”). The president knew of the way the Japanese fought. They fought to the death and they were brutal to prisoners of war. They used woman and children as soldiers to surprise bomb the enemy. They made lethal weapons and were taught to sacr...
Truman called for new public works programs, legislations guaranteeing "full employment," a higher minimum wage, extension of the Fair Employment Practices Committee (or FEPC, a war-time agency that regulated discrimination against African Americans in government agencies and defense industries), a larger Social Security System, and a national health insurance system. Truman pushed for quick demobilization of the military and the temporary extension of governmental economic controls. This helped civilians at home return to a state of
Slightly similar to what would become the race to the moon between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States began the rapid development of an atomic bomb due to Roosevelt’s fears that Nazi Germany was on pace to develop such a bomb for themselves. After Germany was defeated and the lone foe being the Japanese in the Pacific, the clear target for the atomic bomb became Japan (Walker 14). Truman was first informed of this new weapon the day he was sworn in as President after having been left in the dark during his time as Vice President to Roosevelt (Walker 19). Although Truman had learned nothing of the atomic bomb while he served under Roosevelt, he had mastered Roosevelt’s philosophy of ending the war with Japan as quickly as possible while preserving as many American lives as he could. This philosophy would become one of the deciding factors in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Walker
The power of the Executive branch has expanded over time to become the most authoritative division of government. In contrast to the Constitution 's fundamental designer, James Madison, who predicted the Legislative branch would dominate due to it’s power in making laws and regulating taxes/spending, the executive powers have proven to be superior and ever broadening. From the birth of the Republic, the President has sought to protect his rights and seek beyond his restriction of power. Setting the precedent as early as 1795, George Washington refused to relay documents relating to the Jay Treaty to the House of Representatives and saw his actions as a justified act of “executive prerogative.” Moreover, weaving throughout the Nineteenth century, presidents such as Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln conceived and added functions, such as the extensive use of the veto and the president’s direct and active role as Commander in Chief to their executive tool-belt. The Constitution communicates very little details regarding the President’s use of the power of veto and the role as Commander in Chief, but it was these presidents which established the major authority of the executive branch in these areas.