PEACEMONGER
History will little remember Harry S. Truman -- save for one thing, and for that he will never be forgotten. He was the first ruler to use nuclear weapons on human beings.
Several times since that decision in 1945, which set an ominous precedent for a possible third world war, the former president of the United States has said that he did not regret what he did. He has argued that he dropped the two bombs, one on Hiroshima, the other on Nagasaki, in order to “shorten the war" and to "save American lives."
The truth was that the Japanese government, admitting defeat, had already sought to open negotiations to end the war. The bid was ignored. Two reasons have been offered for this: (1) A group in and around the Pentagon wanted to experiment with the atom bomb on a live target. (2) Wiping out a couple of Japanese cities would serve to intimidate the Soviet Union. American ruling circles at the time were thoroughly convinced that the Soviet Union lacked the know-how to produce an atom bomb, not to mention lacking the "secret." American monopoly of the bomb would therefore constitute a major diplomatic weapon in the postwar period. But it had to be proved that the U.S. government would not hesitate to use it.
Looking back today, does Truman still think his decision was correct? Most likely. But he may also suffer occasional twinges of conscience, or a certain fear that after all, unlike the previous two world wars, the United States might not emerge from another one with its home soil unmarred by a single bomb crater.
To a group of admirers in Los Angeles, who have organized the "Harry 8. Truman Center for the Advancement of Peace," he sent a message January 18 saying that the survival of mankind depends on the abolition of war.
"War is fruitless, senseless and a tragic adventure," he said, in which "there are no victors -- only victims."
Of course a cynic might think that what Truman really has in mind is running for the presidency in 1968 as a "peace" candidate. He knows the effectiveness of that gimmick since that's the way the Republicans beat the Democrats in 1952 when Eisenhower ran on a promise to get the country out of the war that Truman took the U.S. into in Korea.
As yet, however, he is playing it cautiously and backing Johnson in Vietnam.