Truman and the Hiroshima Cult

290 Pages·1995·18.703 MB·English

by  Robert P. Newman

TRUMAN
AND THE
HIROSHIMA
CULT

TRUMAN
AND THE
HIROSHIMA
CULT
Robert P. Newman
Michigan State University Press
East Lansing
1995
Copyright © 1995 Robert P. Newman
All Michigan state University Press books are produced on paper which meets the
requirements of American National Standard of Information Sciences-Permanence if
paper for printed materials ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Michigan State University Press
East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5202
03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Newman, Robert P.
Truman and the Hiroshima cult / Robert P. Newman.
p. cm. - (Rhetoric and public affairs series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87013-403-5 (alk. paper)
1. World War. 1939-1945-Japan-Hiroshima-shi. 2. Truman, Harry S., 1884-
1972. 3. World War, 1935-1945-Japan-Nagasaki-shi. 4. Atomic bomb-United
States-Moral and ethical aspects. 5. Hiroshima-shi (Japan)-History
Bombardment, 1945. 6. United States-Military policy-Moral and ethical
aspects.. 7. United States-Foreign relations-Soviet Union. 8. Soviet Union
Foreign relations-United States. I. Title. II. Series.
D767.25.N3N48 1995
940.54'25-dc20 95-20263
CIP
Michigan State University Press Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series
Senior Editor: Martin J. Medhurst, Texas A & M University
Editorial Advisory Board:
G. Thomas Goodnight, Northwestern University
Richard B. Gregg, Pennsylvania State University
Robert Hariman, Drake University
Robert L. Ivie, Indiana University
Jay Mechling, University of California, Davis
Michael Osborn, Memphis State University
Kathleen J. Turner, Tulane University
to
J. William Fulbright
who knew the difference between a just war
and an ignoble crusade

Even as the formal days of atonement in the Jewish and
Christian calendar weaken, lose some of their traditional power, and
attract fewer of the young to their rites, the age-old human impulse
to critical self-scrutiny, with resulting acts of contrition to amend for
past sins, takes on a new and more secularized form. The date is
August 6. Its icon is a mushroom cloud. The sin to be expiated is
America's. And the event is Hiroshima.
Andre Ryerson
"The Cult of Hiroshima"
in Commentary, October 1985

Contents
Preface xi
1 Why Did Truman Drop the Bomb? 1
2 Was Japan Ready to Surrender? 33
3 Was the Policy of Unconditional Surrender Justified? 57
4 Why No Warning or Demonstration? 79
5 Was a Second Bomb Necessary to End the War? 105
6 Was Dropping these Bombs Morally Justified? 115
7 Why Has the "Japan-as-Victim" Myth Been So Attractive? 153
8 What if the Bomb Had Not Been Used? 185
Notes 199
Chronology 237
Bibliography 243
Index 261