Decision to drop the atomic bomb background world war ii was fought by millions of people in all corners of the world there were battles and military key question if you were president truman in 1945 would you have dropped the bomb directions excerpts of franklin roosevelts speech to . The decision to drop the atomic bomb this collection focuses on the decision to drop the atomic bomb it includes 76 documents totaling 632 pages covering the years 1945 through 1964 supporting materials include an online version of truman and the bomb a documentary history edited by robert h ferrell. The decision to drop the atomic bomb history on the net authentic history ww2 the war the pacific the decision to drop the atomic bomb note this section is intended as an objective overview of the decision to use the atomic bomb for new students of the issue. Truman stated that his decision to drop the bomb was purely military a normandy type amphibious landing would have cost an estimated million casualties truman believed that the bombs saved japanese lives as well prolonging the war was not an option for the president over 3500 japanese kamikaze raids had already wrought great destruction and loss of american lives