With the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, a man known for his common sense and decisiveness, became president. But Truman was worried and unsure of himself as he took over the presidency. On April 24, he was given detailed information about the atomic bomb. Two million dollars had been spent on the project but at this point it had still not been tested. Truman was not yet aware of its capabilities, and he was thinking about an invasion of Japan.
American casualties and Japanese attitudes put pressure on the leaders to end the war. The following month on May 7, Germany surrendered unconditionally but the war with the Japanese raged on in the Pacific. By June, American air strikes had left millions of Japanese homeless and naval blockades cut off food. But still there was no surrender because to traditional Japanese thinking, it would mean total disgrace. They feared that their emperor would be executed or his royal family abolished. It was under these conditions that the Americans began to discuss alternatives. Those alternatives were partly influenced by the terrific number of American casualties in the island war with Japan.
On June 18, Truman and his advisors held a conference to plan an invasion of Japan. The invasion would begin on November 1, first targeting the island of Kyushu and then Honshu in the following March. Predictions of 31,000 to 50,000 American deaths in the first month horrified President Truman. However, based on island combat where the Japanese flew kamikaze missions and the death toll of Allied soldiers was tremendous, the President and his advisors did not doubt the determination of the Japanese. Truman approved the possible invasion plan. He also, however, considered the possibility of dropping the ultimate weapon: the first atomic bomb. He felt that the Japanese should have no warning because they might move American prisoners of war to whatever target was announced. Still, the bomb had not been tested and the American death toll rose considerably in the Pacific.
