The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Truman, the new American president, is brought quickly up to speed on the atomic bomb project and its implications for world affairs. War secretary Stimson presses the idea of openness with Russia about the bomb, but Truman distrusts the Soviets. US bombers continue to pummel Japanese cities. The atomic target committee wants an urban area not yet bombed, to gauge the effectiveness of the nuclear weapons, but such municipal areas are getting hard to find. War secretary Stimson nixes Kyoto; it’s too important historically and culturally, and bombing it would be a blot on America’s reputation. Already, Stimson deplores the wholesale destruction of enemy cities and “did not want to have the United States get the reputation for outdoing Hitler in atrocities” (650). 

The target committee wants the bomb to explode at the right height to inflict maximum damage: too high, and it blows up in “thin air”; too low and it mainly blasts a huge crater. With the surrender of Germany early in May 1945, an “Interim Committee” of US officials begins the work of planning for the post-war world; one issue on its agenda is the control of nuclear weapons. Against the fear of an arms race lies the concern that the Soviets might take advantage of openness merely to develop their own bombs.