After U.S. bombers shocked the world in August 1945 by dropping horrendously destructive atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, the administration of President Harry S Truman pledged never again to introduce atomic weapons into a conflict. By November 1950, however, the president was reconsidering. Responding to reports by military advisers that A-bombs could shorten the Korean War by efficiently destroying Soviet military bases in Asia and forcing the Soviet and Chinese Communists to think twice before intervening, Truman made veiled references to the option of atomic force to end the conflict.
If Truman had decided to employ atomic weapons in Korea, he would have had little trouble selling the idea to the American people. In 1949 a Gallup poll determined that 70 percent of Americans were against their government's pledge of no first use......
This is a free excerpt of 150 words. This section contains 997 words. This
article contains 25,986 words (approx. 87 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our America 1950-1959: Government and Politics Access Pass.
