Document:
Diary Entry of Harry S. Truman 25th July 1945
Source [link within this page]:
Diary Entry of Harry S. Truman 25th July 1945
Available online at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library
Comments:
In this entry we have some indication of Truman’s thinking on how to use the bomb against Japan and possibly the restrictions on its use. Why not use it against Tokyo or Kyoto? Also notice Truman’s respect for the destructive power of the bomb, his view of the Japanese in general and his linking of Hitler and Stalin.
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We met at 11 A.M. today. That is Stalin, Churchill and the U.S. President. But I had a most important session with Lord Mountbattan & General Marshall before than. We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.
The weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Secretary of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old capital or the new [Kyoto or Tokyo].
He [Stimson] and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful.