This listing of chapter headings, and very terse discussions of some what each chapter covers, are provided to give you a preview of the topics covered in the book.
THE MOST AWFUL RESPONSIBILITY
Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age
by Alex Wellerstein
HarperCollins Publishers
New York, NY
2025
Introduction … xi
(In which I introduce the paradox that is Truman’s attitudes towards the atomic bomb, and discuss what this book is and is not.)
1 | “It Was Very Clear That He Knew Little of the Task into Which He Was Stepping” … 1
(Franklin Roosevelt dies, and Harry Truman becomes President. Truman is cryptically informed about the existence of the Manhattan Project. Roosevelt’s own intentions about the atomic bomb are probed.)
2 | “Modern Civilization Might Be Completely Destroyed” … 16
(Looking closely at Truman’s first full briefing on the atomic bomb, by the Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, and the head of the Manhattan Project, General Leslie Groves.)
3 | “A Blanket of Fire” … 26
(A look at the existing practices of strategic firebombing during World War II, especially the firebombing campaign instigated by Curtis LeMay, which would come to frame the moral discussions about the atomic bomb.)
4 | “A Decision Not to Upset the Existing Plans” … 35
(On the “decision to use the atomic bomb” — which Truman did not make — and the beginning of the effort by Stimson to keep Kyoto off of the target list.)
5 | “A Profound Psychological Impression” … 49
(Further planning on the atomic bomb, while Stimson attempts to warn Truman that the United States may “get the reputation of outdoing Hitler in atrocities” with its strategic bombing campaign.)
6 | “It Makes Presiding Over the Senate Seem Tame” … 58
(Truman goes to Potsdam and meets Soviet premier Joseph Stalin; the Trinity test occurs, and Truman reacts strongly to it; Stimson makes his final gambit to keep Kyoto off the target list, meeting with Truman about it.)
7 | “The Target Will Be a Purely Military One” … 72
(The final strike order for the atomic bombing is composed and approved, but Truman seems to have profoundly misunderstood what was about to happen.)
8 | “The Greatest Thing in History” … 81
(Hiroshima is bombed, and Truman appears elated. However it is unclear that he understands what has occurred, or that another atomic bomb is about to be used.)
9 | “The Thought of Wiping Out Another 100,000 People Was Too Horrible” … 98
(Truman is informed about the human cost of the Hiroshima attack. The attack on Nagasaki occurs without him being informed of it ahead of time. Another atomic bomb is being prepared to ship to the Pacific Theatre. Truman announces to his cabinet that he has halted further atomic bombings because of his qualms with killing “all those kids.”)
10 | “It Is a Dangerous Thing to Just Give Them the Power and Hope That They Will Not Take Advantage of It” … 108
(The war is over, but the debate over what to do with the atomic bomb has just begun. Truman throws his support behind both domestic and international control, but it is unclear exactly what he believes is possible — or desirable.)
11 | “I Told Him the Blood Was on My Hands” … 126
(Atomic scientist Robert Oppenheimer meets with Truman; it goes poorly, but not for the reasons Oppenheimer likely believed. Truman later describes the burden of the responsibility for using the atomic bomb as “the most terrible of all destructive forces for the wholesale slaughter of human beings.”)
12 | “The Battle of the Atom Still Goes On” … 140
(The continued struggle for clarity on domestic and international control; Truman intervenes forcefully in the former, endorsing a plan that opposes military control of the atom, but not the latter.)
13 | “It Is Quite Possible to Depopulate Vast Areas of the Earth’s Surface” … 152
(Truman approves the first postwar nuclear test series without apparently realizing it will involve detonating a significant proportion of the national stockpile; he learns, surprisingly late, that the US atomic stockpile in 1947 is almost nonexistent.)
14 | “If We Aren’t Going to Use Them, That Doesn’t Make Any Sense” … 162
(The military struggles for more ownership of atomic matters — Truman rejects this and chastises them, decisively establishing unilateral presidential authority over atomic issues as a means of decreasing military influence.)
15 | “An Atomic Explosion Occurred in the Central USSR” … 176
(Truman’s surprising reelection victory puts him in an optimistic mood, including about the peaceful resolution of the Cold War — but the Soviet Union soon tests its first atomic bomb. Truman announces this, but appears to be in denial.)
16 | “A Weapon That Will Kill Ten Million People”… 189
(A secret debate about the development of the hydrogen bomb rages in Washington. Truman is largely noncommittal, even skeptical, until it is leaked and becomes a public and political liability, at which point he believes it is inevitable.)
17 | “We Are in a Hell of a Mess” … 208
(The news of Soviet atomic spies breaks, catching all off-guard. Truman attempts to navigate the toxic politics of anti-Communism, and is reluctant to authorize a massive expansion of the US nuclear complex.)
18 | “A Play Actor and a Bunko Man” … 221
(The Korean War forces Truman into adopting a much harder position on the Soviets. Discussions begin about the possibility of nuclear weapons in the Korean War.)
19 | “I Assume He Told Someone” … 230
(Global deployments of atomic bombs, less their nuclear components, begin — with some terrifying results.)
20 | “That Includes Every Weapon That We Have” … 241
(Loose talk by Truman is interpreted as possibly indicating an openness to nuclear weapons use in the Korean War; military setbacks encourage further war scares. The military instigates studies about how such weapons might be used effectively.)
21 | “The Enemy Could Not Have Marched Across That Radiated Belt” … 254
(Why the military, and even MacArthur, was hesistent about atomic weapons use in Korea — despite MacArthur’s later claims.)
22 | “Charting a Course from Which We Cannot Turn” … 262
(Truman’s conflict with MacArthur comes to a head, and in order to secure the backing of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for his ouster, Truman agrees to sign over several atomic cores to military custody for the first time since the end of the Manhattan Project.)
23 | “We Devoutly Hoped That They Would Not Have to Be Used” … 282
(Truman’s adamant refusal to consider atomic bombs to be “usable” weapons has made him an anomaly among administration figures; the first thermonuclear weapon test is prepared.)
Conclusion … 306
(Truman’s views on the bomb as he exits the Presidency, contrasted with the beliefs and policies of the new President, Dwight D. Eisenhower. How should we regard Truman’s atomic legacy?)
Acknowledgments … 321
Notes … 323
Bibliography … 377
Index … 391