Thursday, January 22, 2009

Outside Reading

(Due to the fact that this *is* the last required post, things may be missing (i.e. President Eisenhower)

The war was almost over, just Japan and the U.S. There was a great question of choosing to drop THE bomb over Japan. Eisenhower happened to depressed at this time. He was against the dropping of the atom bomb (Ambrose 426). Once again, I wonder what happened to Eisenhower's rationality, as if the U.S. were to take Japan in a full land invasion, countless lives would be lost. Then again, with the bomb countless lives would be lost as well. During this plotting, he took multiple trips to assess the damage done in Europe. He thought at first that Germany had suffered the worst of the war. However, when he flew to Russia, he did not see "a single house standing intact from the Russian-Polish border to Moscow. Not one" (426). I assume that this would change Eisenhower's mindset on the bomb, and it did, as it further showed the horrors of war to him. The bombing was done, and what happened...happened.

Later in his life, Eisenhower would overcome other obstacles, like the McCarthy deal against him. Of course, he managed to shrug this off. He, as President, accomplished many reforms. And as for his effort in the war, he is viewed as a hero by many.

1 comment:

joey said...

I think that the decision to drop the bomb was a correct decision but general eisenhower wouldn't have been able to stop the dropping so it wouldn't matter if the bomb was dropped or not. Harry Truman made the decision, so im not really sure why you are talking about Eisenhower being afraid to drop it...