Becca Jones

Grizzly 9
Truman Trial Reflection
Part 1: Truman Biography

Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri. Truman spent his childhood living on his family's farm with his mother, father, brother and sister. From
a young age, Truman was seen to have an interest in both reading and music but in the long run, he did not pursue either of the two after high school. His success with his long
term political career did not include getting a foundational college education. Truman worked a number of jobs after high school. But his first political position began in the
eastern region of Jackson City, working in the county court as a judge. Despite the title, Truman was predominantly assigned to administrative tasks. In the year 1924, Truman
was not asked back as a judge. Truman took a break from the political setting until he realized it was truly what he believed he was meant to do. In 1926, with the aid of Tom
Pendergast, a man who was seen as a fraudulent and unethical political leader, Truman was elected as a judge in the same district county court. Truman continued to work his way
up, dreaming of a position as a Congressman or Governor. Finally he became subjected to the public office and in 1934 to 1935, Harry S. Truman was a senator for the state of
Missouri. He held this position until 1945 when he was elected as the Vice President of the United States to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR).
"Sworn in the 33rd president after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's sudden death, Harry S. Truman presided over the end of WWII and dropped the atomic bomb on Japan"
("Harry S. Truman"). In 1948, after FDR's passing, Truman was given a small sliver information on the weapon of mass destruction was that in the works of being perfected: The
Atomic Bomb. Within the two following weeks, the Potsdam Conference was held and Truman was given the details about the the A-Bomb and its first successful test. It is said
that throughout this conference, Truman dropped subtle hints to Joseph Stalin about the fresh weapon that America now attained. Although this was not the first time that the
Soviets had heard of this weapon, it was the first piece of concrete, spoken evidence. This was important to Stalin because up until that point, he only had words and information
about the evolution of the bomb coming from communist spies he had sent in. The incredibly difficult decision that Truman made on the dropping of the atomic bombs followed
Japan and their refusal to an unconditional surrender.
On August 6, 1945, the world's first ever Atomic Bomb was put to use. This was clearly a decision that required immense contemplation. After all, ending the lives of
over 2.5 million people is not an everyday choice that people struggle with but in his eyes, it had to be done. There is a lot of controversy floating around the initial reasons why
the dropping of the Atomic Bomb was even necessary. From the trial, we are able to see that Truman's decision to drop the Atomic Bomb's was influenced by the Japanese and
their ruthless actions from the past along with what the predicted outcome of the war would be without the dropping of the bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some people
view this situation sympathetically and favor Japan because they were the victims, which they were. With this being said, victims are not always innocent. Japan in fact had
provoked America with not presenting an unconditional surrender. Also, looking into Japan's past, you can see that Japan's slate isn't exactly clean when looking at legitimate
crimes that had been committed; a number of them completed without sanction. But considering this, I don't believe that any of these crimes were horrible enough to earn an
Atomic Bomb dropped on their country. Truman decided that the dropping of the bomb would be more efficient than a land invasion because we would have lost a significant
number of American lives. Truman's presidential term ended in 1953. His biggest achievement in these eight years with him as president was him putting an end to WW2;
although, this did lead our relationship with the USSR to be filled with tension, sparking the beginning of the Cold War.

Harry S. Truman. biography.com. 18 February 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/harry-s-truman-9511121#post-presidency>.

Part 2: Trial Recount

Kellie Allen, the prosecuting attorney began her opening statement by stating reasons as to why the bomb could have very well been dropped for only political reasons,
making Truman guilty of the count. These convincing reasons included the fact that that Truman was afraid of the both the Iron Curtain and the spread of communism. The
prosecuting attorney stated that Japan was close to an unconditional surrender and Truman was aware of this; regardless, he dropped not only one but two bombs. Japan and the
United States were apparently on negotiating terms and Truman was just making up reasons to drop the bomb such as them being able to prove their power of superiority to scare
off Russia (the other big superpower of the world), to get revenge on Japan for the bombing of Pearl Harbor and to get Japan's resources once their country crumbled. Kellie
finished by calling the courtrooms attention to her 3 witnesses: Dwight Eisenhower, Emperor Hirohito and James Byrnes. Then it was time for the defense attorney to begin. Jake
Schroeder, the defense lawyer, started his opening statement by diminishing the prosecution attorneys case, stating that the bombs were dropped solely for military reasons and the
protection of the United States. He told the courtroom that the president's job is to protect and save american lives, which is what Truman did through extreme acts of military
defense. He reminded the courtroom how Japan refused to give an unconditional surrender, stating that they had to keep their precious Emperor in power. According to the defense
lawyer it was necessary for the United States to end the war quickly without the use of the land invasion. A land invasion would simply be a loss of American lives. Jake
concluded his opening statement by introducing his 3 witnesses: Douglas MacArthur, Joseph Stalin and President Harry S. Truman himself. Following opening statements, cross
examination began to take place.
I started the Truman trial amongst the courtroom observers. Jury selection began to progress and both the prosecuting and defense attorneys started with their
questioning of the 6 original jury members. The answers that each jury member gives is seen as very important to each lawyer because it gives them a general feel on their
political stance and if they already have a predetermined idea on who could be guilty. Basically, the judges want to select jury members that will eventually vote in their favor.
Questions that were asked to the jury members included: God or money? Science or religion? Is the U.S. the best country in the world? Do you watch the news? If so, what
channel? Is it okay for death to occurred over political struggles? Can you listen and trust politicians? Democrat or Republican? What are your feelings on the U.S. Military?
How do you feel about communism? Once each jury member was questioned, jury members 6 and 2 were excused and their spots were quickly filled. These two new jury
members were given a similar selection of questions and afterwards, jurist number 3 was dismissed along with jurist number 6, again. The two spots were filled immediately with
myself and another peer. Both the prosecuting and defense lawyers stated to be satisfied with the jury and promptly after, opening statements took place.
Every witness was clearly of great importance when coming to aid their attorneys case. However, it was obvious that some individuals were more prepared and
believable than others. For example, Emperor Hirohito's, on the prosecuting side, had a heartfelt and thoughtful testament that was presented to the courtroom. With every
question answered, you could tell that a great amount of consideration was used. This significantly weakened the defense case, in my eyes; despite the triumph of the prosecuting
side by the end of the trial. Hirohito's way of explaining the horror that Japan faced when the bombs dropped made you feel as if there was nothing that anyone could do to ever
deserve that type of punishment. Hirohito also spoke of how the United States decision to drop the bombs, the second one taking place even after an unconditional surrender had
been made, made the United States look cruel and power hungry. She spoke truthfully by proclaiming that Japan was close to an unconditional surrender even before the first
bomb was dropped, and Truman knew that. Through questions from the jury, all of them answered nicely, we also found that even Japan knew that the United States believed
Russian involvement in Japan was bad. Japan knew that the United States was completely against communism and they were afraid that if Russia would've gotten into Japan, it
would have spread. I believe that out of all prosecution witnesses, Hirohito was able to aid her attorneys case most by speaking legitimate feelings and truth for and from the
Japanese people. When it comes to the defense side, I believe that Douglas MacArthur made a stellar performance. MacArthur was able to answer each proposed question calmly
and in an educated manner. She made her attorneys case stronger as a military leader by reinstating just how relentless the Japanese had been. He stated that the Japanese would
do anything for their Emperor. making them that much more aggressive. MacArthur also reminded us that the United States showered Japan with notes days before the bombing,
warning the people about the use of the a-bomb and telling the people to evacuate. It was simply up to them to do so.

Part 3: Jury Deliberations/Trial Evaluations

Following closing statements was jury deliberation. Jury deliberation is a time period where the members of the jury discuss their opinions and ideas on how the trial
went as a whole along, the preparation that the witnesses put forward along with the triumphs of each lawyer. Throughout this extensive process, a lot of fine-tuning questions.
Was the United States acting out of anger? Were they just trying to get revenge on Japan for the bombing of Pearl Harbor? This was a recurring question throughout jury
deliberation that really made up the jurys final decisions. The jury praised the prosecution side for their excellent use of southern accents, creative opening and closing statements
along with being able to mend anything bad things that the defense team brought out in cross examination. Some things that they could have improved on were the clarity and
audibility of their voices along with witness preparation. As for the defense side, they complimented their witness preparation, cross examination questions and their educating
opening and closing statements. Through a number of clarifying questions and deliberation, the jury came to a rather unanimous decision that Truman was guilty for dropping the
Atomic Bombs for political reasons, rather than political. In the years since the two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, a number of historians have suggested that the
weapons had a two-pronged objective. First, of course, was to bring the war with Japan to a speedy end and spare American lives. It has been suggested that the second objective
was to demonstrate the new weapon of mass destruction to the Soviet Union (Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima).
I personally do not agree with the jurys verdict. With Japanese brutality flourishing and Russia invading north islands of Japan, we most definitely needed to take
matters into our own hands and put the Atomic Bomb to use. If we hadnt used the bomb and taken another road, a land invasion, we would have lost time and troops. The
Japanese were barbaric and it was clear that there was nothing else that could be done to put an end to them, unless we would settle for a conditional surrender. I think there were
also a number of other reasons, ones that were not discussed in the trial, that suggests that a large number of other deaths would take place, if a land invasion were to happen. It
was a last resort. The United States had no other way to completely get what they needed. The United States took the initiative and was forced to made an extremely hard but
beneficial decision. We did what we needed to, which was protecting the American people.

Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. history.com. 23 February 2015.

<http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima>.

Part 4: The Trial's Significance

I think that the use of the atomic bomb can be justified for military reasons. The decision to drop the bomb was a smart one. It prevented a land invasion where
American and potentially even Russian troops would be sent in. This would just result in a drastic number of fatalities. During the trial, a student suggested that the bomb should
have been dropped in a testing area, documented and then sent to Japan; that way we could've just scared them or shown how much damage we could actually create. This would
demonstrate the power of the bomb without causing 2.5 million casualties. Personally, if someone did that to my country, I would be terrified and do whatever I could to get our
country to surrender unconditionally. You can see that if we had followed through with a land invasion, both Japan and the United States would have lost a huge number of lives,
we could have possibly even lost Russian troops if we had waited 6 months and allowed them to intervene. The use of the bombs could also be seen to be cost and time efficient.
The atomic bombs put a quick end to the war while saving a significant amount of money by not having to physically send troops, food, ammunition and other necessities for
"boots on the ground" combat. I believe that one of the largest factors that affected Truman's decision to drop the bombs was that this action would guarantee an unconditional
surrender from the Japanese. The Japanese were resistant and denied conforming to an unconditional surrender throughout the Potsdam proclamation. I do not believe there is
anything else we could have done to put an end to the Japanese, their vicious war tactics, strategies and stubborn refusal to surrender. If the bomb was never used, the Japanese
would simply take it as a joke, not seeing the United State's true capability along with the bombs.
Although I am arguing that the bomb was dropped for military reasons, I do understand those who believe it was dropped for political reasons. Russia agreed that they
would aid us in our conflict with Japan that was occurring in the Pacific Theatre. However, we would have to wait 6 months for Russia to come help us so that Russia would have
a sufficient amount of time to recover, considering they had just came out of a war themselves. The 6 month period was approaching quickly and I believe that the United States
became worried that Russia would intervene and then take advantage of Japanese territory. The United States wanted to take advantage of Japan and its resources for ourselves.
We were worried that Russia would treat this situation as they did with the creation of the "Iron Curtain" in Germany. I also believe that the United States was worried because the
Soviets were quickly claiming more and more territory, converting each country to communism as they went. America, being a capitalist country, hated communism and hoped to
stop Russia before they would have to intervene. The U.S. did not want Russia to spread of this system to Japan. So to prevent all of this, we decided to take care of the
predicament ourselves by rashly dropping the bombs, making it unnecessary for Russia to intervene. Following World War 1, the United States and the USSR were seen as the two
superpowers of the world. These two countries stayed superpowers all through the Cold War. I believe that the USSR being considered a superpower could have very well scared
the United States. They could have seen the USSR as competition and struggled with the idea of not being the most advanced country of the world. With this being said, I don't
believe that we dropped the bomb to scared off Russia or to prove ourselves. After all, we were allied with Russia during the time. Those who argue that the bombs were dropped
strictly for political reasons generally believe that we had something to prove to the Soviets when we decided to drop the bomb. We could have simply wanted the Soviets to
become scared of us. These people can also argue that we did it to show our power, with the Cold War right around the corner.
With America holding an incredibly large weapon of mass destruction and the Japanese taunting us with refusal, the United States arrived at the point where we believed that it was
completely crucial for us to actually use the bomb. We decided to use it for the benefit of American lives and people. Despite the fact that I think the use of the Atomic Bomb has
been justified by military reasons, I also believe that an act of American Exceptionalism can be traced back throughout this entire situation. When deciding to drop the bombs, the
United States considered only American lives, not Japanese. We gave American lives a higher order of concern and consideration. We did not try to understand what the Japanese
must have been feeling. We killed 2.5 million innocent citizens; men, women and children of all ages. We did not consider the fact that this would lead to a 40 year long nuclear
arms race. You see, America does not like to reflect on the negative things we as a country have been involved in. The American society would rather have people living their
lives in oblivion as oppose to being informed about large conflicts, even more so when these conflicts are occurring within our own territory.