Images (7)
Document
| id |
id
313081686
|
|---|---|
| contentType |
contentType
document
|
| source |
source
import
|
Source image fields (6)
Extracted text
OCR Page 1 of 7August 6, 1951
TRUMAN
Page 2.
HARRY
ARCHIVES AND
TISSARY
U.S.
RECORDS SERVICE" BOVERN WENT
The bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945.
The President said that he told Stalin during the Potsdam Con-
ference that the United States had perfected a powerful new weapon. He did
not tell Stalin that it was an atomic bomb or weapon. He said that Stalin
did not seem impressed particularly but he smiled and said that was fine.
(Admiral Leahy also told of this in his book, "I Was There".)
The announcement that the bomb had been dropped was made by me
at the White House on August 6th with the release of a statement by the
President which had been prepared in advance and gone over by the President
and Stimson at Potsdam.
The President was on board the cruiser AUGUSTA returning from
Potsdam when the bomb was dropped at Hiroshima. (The story of the manner
in which the President was informed is given by Leahy in his book.)
The President also talked of the great responsibility that rested
upon him in making the decision to drop the bomb on Japan.
The President talked also about later atomic development and its
potentialities for good and something on the latest tests at Eniwetok.
I also asked him about the September 5, 1945, message to Congress
containing his legislative program and famous twenty-one points. I told him
I was going to get some of the background on that.
I asked him if Judge Rosenman had not done much of the work on it
and he said he had, that Rosenman and he sat down together and he told Rosenman
he wanted to get together all of the plans and ideas that Roosevelt had in
mind and as a result of this the message was worked out.
(During the period from April 12th on there had been much pulling
and hawing among the various people who had been associated with Roosevelt or
in the Government -- the New Dealers and Liberals as against those who were
more conservative as to which path the new President was going to take. Both
sides were claiming him as their own and some of those close to the President
felt that his philosophy of government and his position should be clearly de-
fined and set forth. The message made this entirely clear.)
Relations
belongs_to
belongs_to