The Reflective Essay
President Harry Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan during World War II
Introduction
The United States remains the only country in the world that has ever made use of an atomic weapon against another country during a war. In 1945 the U.S. bombed two Japanese cities – Hiroshima and Nagasaki – in what effectively informed the surrender of Japan during World War II. It is important to note that over time, the use of an atomic bomb by the U.S. against Japan has been debated widely. Was the U.S.… Continue Reading...
third parties to fight on their behalf.
As has been pointed out the United States joined the war incrementally and it all begun in May 1950 when President Harry Truman sanctioned a modest program of military and economic aid to the French who at that time were fighting in order to retain control of their Indochina colony. This colony included Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The French forces were defeated by the Vietnamese Nationalist (and Communist-led) Viet Minh army forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 (Brown 15). This forced the French to yield to the creation of a Communist Vietnam north of the 17th parallel and leaving a non-Communist entity south of the line. While the French were… Continue Reading...
most political analysts. As noted by Larry J. Sabato, there are many parallels between the election of 1948 and 2016. In 1948, Harry Truman, who was predicted to lose to Thomas E. Dewey, had a similar, populist “give ‘em hell” style to Donald Trump. Dewey’s supporters were similarly unenthusiastic as many of Clinton’s supporters, who backed her more as the anti-Trump candidate versus someone they genuinely admired. But the parallels end there, as Truman was still an incumbent president who had a lifetime of political service, while Trump, in stark contrast, had never held office.
Sabato notes that first and foremost, Trump rode a wave of anti-immigration and white resentment of what… Continue Reading...
