What was the Manhattan Project? It was a secret project that had started in 1939 with President Franklin Roosevelt's support. Scientists were trying to make the first atomic bomb that could destroy the whole world. This project was so secret that President Roosevelt didn't even tell the Vice President, Harry Truman. When President Roosevelt died on April 14, 1945, Harry Truman was made president, and the scientists who were working on the Manhattan Project had to decide if they would tell President Truman their secret or not.
On this day, April 24th, 1945, President Trum
an was told about the Manhattan Project. Knowing about this project meant that the new President had a huge decision to make. Should he use it in the war the United States was in or not? They talked about how it could be used as a threat against the communists until they set the people in their country free. Since the war with Japan was dragging on, they voted and decided to use it on 2 cities in Japan because the Japanese would not surrender or let the prisoners go free, and this ended the war with Japan. President Truman is still the only leader to an atomic bomb against an enemy.
