TRUMAN, Harry S. Typed letter signed ("Harry S. Truman"), as former President, to Ms. Margot L. Chadwell, Independence, Mo., 22 March 1972. 1 page, 4to, on personal stationery . [WITH:] TRUMAN. Photograph signed and inscribed ("To Lance Babusk Harry S. Truman"). Black and white photograph (5 x 3 3/8 in.) .
TRUMAN, Harry S. Typed letter signed ("Harry S. Truman"), as former President, to Ms. Margot L. Chadwell, Independence, Mo., 22 March 1972. 1 page, 4to, on personal stationery . [WITH:] TRUMAN. Photograph signed and inscribed ("To Lance Babusk Harry S. Truman"). Black and white photograph (5 x 3 3/8 in.) . "MY DECISION REGARDING THE ATOM BOMB...SPARED...YOUR HUSBAND'S LIFE" Nine months before his death, Truman thanks a woman for a letter in support of his decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan. "I was pleased to have your letter," he writes, "which I read with special interest and all the more so since you consider that by my decision regarding the atom bomb, your husband's life was spared. I appreciate your wanting to share your experience with me..." Truman goes on to enclose a signed photograph that Mrs. Chadwell requested. No action of Truman generated more controversy during his retirement than his decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman himself expressed a variety of attitudes about the bombing over the years. On 10 August 1945, one day after the Nagasaki bombing, but before Japan agreed to surrender, he ordered a halt on using the third and last bomb in the American arsenal. He told aides he couldn't stand the thought of killing "all those kids." The same day, when Sen. Richard Russell made the bloodthirsty suggestion of pressing the war until Japan was virtually wiped out, Truman answered him sharply: "My object is to save as many American lives as possible but I also have a human feeling for the woman and children of Japan" (McCullough, Truman , 460, 458). As criticism continued over the years, Truman became more defiant in his responses. He boasted of never losing a moment's sleep over the decision. In his memoirs, he argued the bombings were necessary to avoid a projected one million casualties that might have occurred during an invasion of Japan. By 1961, when a filmmaker broached the idea of making a documentary about the bombing, with the former President making an appearance in Hiroshima, Truman said, "I'll go to Japan if that's what you want, but I won't kiss their ass" (Miller, Plain Speaking , 230).
TRUMAN, Harry S. Typed letter signed ("Harry S. Truman"), as former President, to Ms. Margot L. Chadwell, Independence, Mo., 22 March 1972. 1 page, 4to, on personal stationery . [WITH:] TRUMAN. Photograph signed and inscribed ("To Lance Babusk Harry S. Truman"). Black and white photograph (5 x 3 3/8 in.) .
TRUMAN, Harry S. Typed letter signed ("Harry S. Truman"), as former President, to Ms. Margot L. Chadwell, Independence, Mo., 22 March 1972. 1 page, 4to, on personal stationery . [WITH:] TRUMAN. Photograph signed and inscribed ("To Lance Babusk Harry S. Truman"). Black and white photograph (5 x 3 3/8 in.) . "MY DECISION REGARDING THE ATOM BOMB...SPARED...YOUR HUSBAND'S LIFE" Nine months before his death, Truman thanks a woman for a letter in support of his decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan. "I was pleased to have your letter," he writes, "which I read with special interest and all the more so since you consider that by my decision regarding the atom bomb, your husband's life was spared. I appreciate your wanting to share your experience with me..." Truman goes on to enclose a signed photograph that Mrs. Chadwell requested. No action of Truman generated more controversy during his retirement than his decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman himself expressed a variety of attitudes about the bombing over the years. On 10 August 1945, one day after the Nagasaki bombing, but before Japan agreed to surrender, he ordered a halt on using the third and last bomb in the American arsenal. He told aides he couldn't stand the thought of killing "all those kids." The same day, when Sen. Richard Russell made the bloodthirsty suggestion of pressing the war until Japan was virtually wiped out, Truman answered him sharply: "My object is to save as many American lives as possible but I also have a human feeling for the woman and children of Japan" (McCullough, Truman , 460, 458). As criticism continued over the years, Truman became more defiant in his responses. He boasted of never losing a moment's sleep over the decision. In his memoirs, he argued the bombings were necessary to avoid a projected one million casualties that might have occurred during an invasion of Japan. By 1961, when a filmmaker broached the idea of making a documentary about the bombing, with the former President making an appearance in Hiroshima, Truman said, "I'll go to Japan if that's what you want, but I won't kiss their ass" (Miller, Plain Speaking , 230).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
