How we cite our quotes: Chapter name.(Chapter Number).Paragraph
Quote #7
After taking the oath of office, Truman met with the cabinet members. He assured them he would continue Roosevelt's policies. "I made it clear, however, that I would be president in my own right," he said later, "and that I would assume full responsibilities for such decisions as had to be made." (Falling Stars.(28).16)
This was important for Truman to establish with his cabinet. He had his own set of beliefs that he needed to prioritize in order to have an effective presidency, but he had to balance that out by respecting the fact that these trusted officials had been selected during Roosevelt's term. It was a very difficult balancing act for Truman to undertake, especially at a time when huge decisions needed to be made.
Quote #8
"He wanted me to take a little side trip," Gold remembered. "He said there was a man in Albuquerque who also worked at Los Alamos and who was ready to furnish me with information."
Gold didn't like it. "I complained that it was jeopardizing the whole matter of the information I was getting from Fuchs," he said. "It represented an additional delay, an additional period or interval in which something could happen, and I just for once got up on my hind legs and almost flatly refused to go to New Mexico." (Land of Enchantment.(29).5-6)
It's interesting to see where these people with questionable principles draw the line. Here, Gold is essentially just standing up for his own well being, but he's also refusing to do the "side trip" because it goes against what he was taught as tradecraft.
Quote #9
"For me, Hitler was the personification of evil, and the primary justification for the atomic bomb work," remembered the physicist Emilio Segrè. "Now that the bomb could not be used against the Nazis, doubts arose. Those doubts, even if they do not appear in official reports, were discussed in many private discussions."(Land of Enchantment.(29).12)
It all comes down to their principles. Most, if not all, of the scientists wouldn't like the idea of killing thousands of people in a single moment. They were creating a bomb that would do precisely that, though, in order to defeat a far greater evil: Hitler and the Nazi regime. With Hitler out of the way, would it still be right to build such a terrible weapon?