Opinion of Harry Truman

[Phony Moderate]

HP.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

An epic FF, and one of our best Presidents.

[Bo]

An epic FF, and one of our best Presidents.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Massive HP and war criminal. Disgusting excuse for a human being.

[useful idiot]

It's mixed, to the point where I wouldn't call him a freedom fighter, but I don't have a negative opinion of him. I rather like him in a lot of respects.

[Psychic Octopus]

Epic Freedom Fighter.

[Free Palestine]

Not a fan of any president during the Cold War.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Tremendous FF

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

[Torie]

He had his faults at the margin, but FF all the way. I liked his guts and candor, and courage, and good common sense, and the fact that when he lost it, Congress reigned him in.

[Bo]

Clearly many problems and tragedies resulted from the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, either several hundred thousand Japanese had to die by being nuked (and its aftereffects) or several hundred thousand Americans would have had to die in a U.S. invasion of Japan. Truman, as U.S. President, decided to save the lives of several hundred thousand of his own citizens and soldiers by nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ending WWII much quicker and with much less American casualties than otherwise.

[Psychic Octopus]

Not only less American casualties, less Russian and Japanese as well.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Clearly many problems and tragedies resulted from the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, either several hundred thousand Japanese had to die by being nuked (and its aftereffects) or several hundred thousand Americans would have had to die in a U.S. invasion of Japan. Truman, as U.S. President, decided to save the lives of several hundred thousand of his own citizens and soldiers by nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ending WWII much quicker and with much less American casualties than otherwise.

Nope, false dilemma. Neither "option" was a necessity. Truman committed mass-murder unnecessarily. Twice. He is on par with Stalin and Hitler.

[JSojourner]

FF

Made the excruciatingly painful decision to use the bomb.  But, in the end, saved millions (literally) of lives that would have been lost in an invasion of the Japanese homeland.  And yes, millions.  Most estimates have American losses at about 500 thousand. But add to this the million or so Japanese who would be killed, both soldiers and civillians.  The firebombings of the major Japanese cities would continue.  And, with the expected dogged resistance to invasion, there is almost no doubt that eventually allied troops from other nations would also be used as follow-on forces.  Too, the Soviets would almost certainly invade the northernmost home island (Sapporo?) and may well have claimed it as their own.  More loss of life.

No one, not least this supporter of abolishing ALL nuclear weapons, would ever want or wish them to be used.  But one cannot argue with history.  There were no other practical choices available to Truman for ending the war in Japan.  Invasion, blockade and starvation, or a swift nuclear strike.

Certainly not without his flaws but overall, one of our better Presidents.

[President Mitt]

Clearly many problems and tragedies resulted from the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, either several hundred thousand Japanese had to die by being nuked (and its aftereffects) or several hundred thousand Americans would have had to die in a U.S. invasion of Japan. Truman, as U.S. President, decided to save the lives of several hundred thousand of his own citizens and soldiers by nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ending WWII much quicker and with much less American casualties than otherwise.

Do not act like that was the only option. There was a third option which would have also worked, continuing and strengthing the blockade against the Japanese Islands. This was also the choice that would resulted in the least casualities. Truman felt the need to show off to the Soviet Union, who he considered America's newest enemy.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

FF

Made the excruciatingly painful decision to use the bomb.  But, in the end, saved millions (literally) of lives that would have been lost in an invasion of the Japanese homeland.  And yes, millions.  Most estimates have American losses at about 500 thousand. But add to this the million or so Japanese who would be killed, both soldiers and civillians.  The firebombings of the major Japanese cities would continue.  And, with the expected dogged resistance to invasion, there is almost no doubt that eventually allied troops from other nations would also be used as follow-on forces.  Too, the Soviets would almost certainly invade the northernmost home island (Sapporo?) and may well have claimed it as their own.  More loss of life.

No one, not least this supporter of abolishing ALL nuclear weapons, would ever want or wish them to be used.  But one cannot argue with history.  There were no other practical choices available to Truman for ending the war in Japan.  Invasion, blockade and starvation, or a swift nuclear strike.

Certainly not without his flaws but overall, one of our better Presidents.

Once again, false choices. An invasion of the Japanese homeland was no more a necessity than was Harry Truman's showing off his ability to commit mass-murder twice.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

Oh, he had to burn the village down to save it? Makes sense.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

Oh, he had to burn the village down to save it? Makes sense.

He had to shoot the aggressor in the arms to avoid shooting him in the heart.  Even with the destruction wrought by the nuclear bombs many Jap leaders wanted to stay in the battle and fight.

As difficult as it is for me to say this about a Democrat, Harry Truman may be one of our greatest Presidents for making such a difficult decision that saved so many lives.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

Oh, he had to burn the village down to save it? Makes sense.

He had to shoot the aggressor in the arms to avoid shooting him in the heart.  Even with the destruction wrought by the nuclear bombs many Jap leaders wanted to stay in the battle and fight.

As difficult as it is for me to say this about a Democrat, Harry Truman may be one of our greatest Presidents for making such a difficult decision that saved so many lives.

No surprise there. The Democrats were the party of senseless war and death then just like your beloved Republicans are now.

[Bo]

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

Oh, he had to burn the village down to save it? Makes sense.

He had to shoot the aggressor in the arms to avoid shooting him in the heart.  Even with the destruction wrought by the nuclear bombs many Jap leaders wanted to stay in the battle and fight.

As difficult as it is for me to say this about a Democrat, Harry Truman may be one of our greatest Presidents for making such a difficult decision that saved so many lives.

No surprise there. The Democrats were the party of senseless war and death then just like your beloved Republicans are now.

Most of the time, libertarians are out of touch with reality.

[President Mitt]

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

Oh, he had to burn the village down to save it? Makes sense.

He had to shoot the aggressor in the arms to avoid shooting him in the heart.  Even with the destruction wrought by the nuclear bombs many Jap leaders wanted to stay in the battle and fight.

As difficult as it is for me to say this about a Democrat, Harry Truman may be one of our greatest Presidents for making such a difficult decision that saved so many lives.

No surprise there. The Democrats were the party of senseless war and death then just like your beloved Republicans are now.

Most of the time, libertarians are out of touch with reality.

No, we're not.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

No, we're not.

Do you really agree with Libertas here, Giovanni?

[Bo]

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

Oh, he had to burn the village down to save it? Makes sense.

He had to shoot the aggressor in the arms to avoid shooting him in the heart.  Even with the destruction wrought by the nuclear bombs many Jap leaders wanted to stay in the battle and fight.

As difficult as it is for me to say this about a Democrat, Harry Truman may be one of our greatest Presidents for making such a difficult decision that saved so many lives.

No surprise there. The Democrats were the party of senseless war and death then just like your beloved Republicans are now.

Most of the time, libertarians are out of touch with reality.

No, we're not.

I wasn't talking about libertarian-leaning Republicans. I was talking about fringe-Ron Paul-kind of libertarians.

[President Mitt]

No, we're not.

Do you really agree with Libertas here, Giovanni?

Not on this point. I agree that the Atomic Bombings were not necessary. But I find it insulting that Mendeleev is thinking Libertarianism is fringe concept that only out of touch Big Businessmen and Pot Smoking Hippies. I mean, I'm not a Big Businessman nor a Pot Smoking Hippie am I?

Super-FF for saving the lives of thousands of American soliders and thousands more Japanese civilians.  He had the courage to finally end the war that was begun by Japanese aggression.

Oh, he had to burn the village down to save it? Makes sense.

He had to shoot the aggressor in the arms to avoid shooting him in the heart.  Even with the destruction wrought by the nuclear bombs many Jap leaders wanted to stay in the battle and fight.

As difficult as it is for me to say this about a Democrat, Harry Truman may be one of our greatest Presidents for making such a difficult decision that saved so many lives.

No surprise there. The Democrats were the party of senseless war and death then just like your beloved Republicans are now.

Most of the time, libertarians are out of touch with reality.

No, we're not.

I wasn't talking about libertarian-leaning Republicans. I was talking about fringe-Ron Paul-kind of libertarians.

Ron Paul is not fringe, get over yourself.