How we cite our quotes: Chapter name.(Chapter Number).Paragraph
Quote #10
For Truman, that settled it. If the atomic bomb could shock Japan into giving up, it had to be used.
"It was a question of saving hundreds of thousands of American lives," he later explained. "I couldn't worry about what history would say about my personal morality. I made the only decision I ever knew how to make. I did what I thought was right." (Little Boy.(32).25-26)
Truman chose to use a horrible weapon against a lot of innocent people in order to try to save the lives of his own countrymen. How do his principles come into play? What about his pledge to be his own president while still respecting Roosevelt's vision?
Quote #11
"I believe the most important question is the moral one," [Bethe] said. "Can we, who have always insisted on morality and human decency between nations as well as inside our own country, introduce this weapon of total annihilation into the world?" (Epilogue.43)
This was a prevalent problem for the scientists working on the bomb. The majority of them felt as though they were working for the good of their country, but once it was unleashed, they realized they'd created something truly terrible.
Quote #12
Oppenheimer had two options: demand a hearing, or simply walk away. He knew by now that nothing he did or said could stop the arms race. But there was a principle involved—he couldn't let the charges against him go unchallenged. "This course of action," he told Strauss, "would mean that I accept and concur in the view that I am not fit to serve this government that I have now served for some twelve years. This I cannot do." (Epilogue.56)
Oppie is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He doesn't want the publicity and attention of a trial, but he also couldn't let Strauss defame him without taking a stand. Unfortunately, Strauss's underhanded methods won the day, leaving Oppenheimer dejected and disparaged.