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who was the president during world war two and did he want...

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Answer by Crystal
Submitted on 2/9/2004
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When the Japanese began to threaten Southeast Asia, Roosevelt froze Japanese assets in the U.S. banks, resulting in a cutoff of Japanese oil supplies. This would be considered an act of war by Japan, and as such Japanese retaliation was expected by Roosevelt and fellow schemers. As the Japanese fleet approached Pearl Harbor, intelligence services in Britain and the U.S. knew of the approach. Churchill notified his Pacific commanders that the Japanese were heading for Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt, on the other hand, did not notify his commanders. Instead, he sent the most strategic ships (the aircraft carriers) out to sea where they would be safe, and instructed key observation outposts on the island of Kauai to stand down. It was over Kauai that the Japanese made their approach to Pearl Harbor.

Answer by Becker
Submitted on 2/9/2004
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it is not President Roosevelt lead us to war. we lost a ton of men in the attack on pearl harbor that is including women and men. all of our best ships were sunk also. were we just supposed to sit there in awe? we should have been on full alert though when we found out that the Japanese carriers were missing. anyways they deceived us. they said they wanted to stay at peace with America. and then they go bomb pearl harbor. we lost 8 ships including the Arizona which carried at least 7000 men. Admiral Isoroku Yamaoto (the leader of the attack) brought us into this war. the only way we could win with out having to lose the lives of many more were dropping the atom bombs in japan. i don't feel sorry for the Japanese who died from it. if we would not have done it. where would we be today? the dropping of the atom bombs surrendered the country of japan. if we would not have done it there would be a possibility of you or me being alive right now as i type this. i have to do a 7 page report on this so please tell me if any of my info is incorrect or what do you think about this?

Answer by Laura
Submitted on 3/7/2004
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In response to Crystal's answer Roosevelt did not receive the message about Pearl Harbor until after the event had already occurred. You see the normal translator was not present to receive the message from the Japanese. There were many warning signs, however, that did go unnoticed; radar scans noticed a group of planes approaching and they were told they were only seeing birds, also a U.S. boat spotted the planes and their warnings too went unanswered. In Roosevelt's Inaugural speech he promised that America would not enter the war, however, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Nazi threat, and the Japanese threat he could no longer remain "neutral." Harry S. Trueman received the presidency when Roosevelt died and the country was already in the war. Trueman was left to deal with the Germans, the Japanese, and the Russians becoming greedy over land. Trueman decided to use the atomic bombs on Japan ultimately ending the war.

Answer by Steve
Submitted on 3/28/2004
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Ben has the right idea, but didn't quite explain the part of the Japanese emperor really specifically. To understand that part, soldiers learned a strict moral code that dates back to the samurai age. They would give their lives for the emperor, to protect him at all costs. The US wasn't interested in removing the emperor. The Emperor was actually a lead figure much like the British Royal Family, but no real power. The real power was held by the militants led by Hideki Tojo. To force him to surrender, the US displayed their overwhelming power with the atomic bombs. The Emperor then told his advisors to force surrender and removed Tojo from any power. Another reason why the US dropped the atomic bombs was to show off to the Soviet Union, where US and USSR tensions were already growing. Truman wanted to scare the Soviets and obtain superiority (of course, the Soviets caught up, and soon after lead the two superpowers into the Cold War). Pearl Harbor happened in the first place because the Japanese believed that they could control a PACIFIC EMPIRE... only if the US was prevented from taking action against them. They planned for months on a surprise attack, that succeeded stunningly. Most ships sustained damage, and some, like the well known footage of the Arizona, were sunk. However, the Japanese miscalculated the effect of this attack on the American public. Instead of fearing the Japanese, the Americans were enraged, and FDR asked for war, which Congress nearly unanimously approved. During the next few years, the US's industrial prowess enabled them to build a large and strong navy to defeat the Japanese. Truman came near the end of the war, and did not contribute quite as much as FDR, who died in the Spring of 1945. It was Truman that helped end the war, and authorized the use of the Atomic bombs.

Answer by Realmz
Submitted on 5/4/2004
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Roosevelt wanted to help in the war effort to stop the facist powers but, he didn't actually want to go into a full out war (he promised he wouldn't) so he actually brkoe his own laws (neutrallity act) in his lend lease policy with the british and allied powers. After the bombing of pearl harbor, FDR knew that no if he did go to war, the american people wouldn't hate him for it, as that pretty much all of america was outraged at the attack. As for the atomic bombs being dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki, the US wanted the japanese to surrender first then they'd talk about what would happen, this was the us policy, unconditional surrender. It was estimated that an invasion of japan would lead to casualties in the serveral millions, the deaths from the two bombs would be a fraction of this. Truman hoped that it would convince someone in the japanese militant government to surrender, as well as show the soviets that the us had weapons like this (i think it was from the movie hiroshima "if we drop one, then it's all we have. If we drop two, then we'll have millions" i like that movie)

Answer by disappointed with what i've read
Submitted on 11/28/2004
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The bombings of Japan went a-head to justify the expenses of the bomb and also to keep the USSR out of any post-war peace settlements. Truman, in rivalry with the USSR, wanted to prove American supremacy by showing that he was prepared to use weapons of mass destruction. Isn't it funny how the only country concerned with ensuring 'world peace' had been the only country to use nuclear weapons? Maybe Truman was thinking long-term, that by using the atomic bombs a future nuclear war would be prevented, that nuclear weapons would serve as a deterrent in preventing global conflict. This has worked up until now, Iraq. America wanted vengeance after Pearl Harbor and the Bataan Death march. the Japanese were portrayed by the American's as barbarians and were hated immensely. Nothing, not even pearl harbor can justify the bombings, millions of innocent lives were lost and the survivors suffered from radiation sickness, ultimately ending their lives. scientists even regret going to work on the bomb. Einstein even said that he wished he had become a 'black-smith' knowing what his work would lead to. Truman delayed the Potsdam meetings until he got word that the atomic bomb was ready to use. Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not stand a chance, it would have happened anyway. The decision to go ahead with the bombing was made the day before the Potsdam Declaration. Truman was determined to justify the expenses of the bomb. It is also important to remember that Truman lied to the American people to increase his chances of being re-elected. Had America and its Allies gone ahead with a land invasion, this would not have only been costly but would have cost American lives. However, the war would have still ended, Japan was already on the brink of surrender. It would have delayed the war by only a "matter of months" (James Byrnes). Truman should have accepted Japans conditional surrender, after all Japan did get to keep their Emperor after all. The real target was the USSR, the ultimate communist threat. It is hardly just that Japan had to suffer as a consequence. Truman used the bomb for his own selfish and non-democratic reasons; to increases his chances of being re-elected and to avoid a congressional inquiry for the mis-appropriation of $2 billion. Can America really call itself a democracy when their president lies to them and prevents them from the freedom of open debate? Now that's the larger question. I apologize for the poor grammar, mis-spelling and non paragraphing, but these points cannot be ignored and I don't really have time to spare because I have research to be getting back to. I do suggest however that you do some further reading of your own, just remember, don't accept everything you hear, do some real thinking for yourself.

Answer by Andy
Submitted on 2/24/2005
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The debate on why Truman decided to use the Atomic Bombs on Japan is a complicated and exhaustible one. Truman stated that an invasion of the Japanese home islands could cost up to 1million U.S. casualties. This however, has been debated by historians such as R. Miles Jr who quite rightly states that Truman does not give any evidence for this estimation. Where there other options to the Atomic Bombs? Yes. Truman could have continued a policy of Strategic bombing and continued blockade of Japan. Evidence from the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey of 1945 show that if this option was used then Japan would have capitulated in early December. Did Truman want unconditional surrender? Possibly but it is very important to remember that even after the bombs had been dropped it was a negotiated surrender that he accepted not an unconditional one. The Japanese Emperor remained in place. If it could be accepted after using the Atomic Bombs why not before? My conclusion would be that although other factors would have played apart in Truman's decision his main objective was to stop the spread of the Soviet Union (communism) and limit their influence in Manchuria and Japan.

Answer by Fran D.
Submitted on 2/28/2005
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Keep in mind that A: None of the previous replies show . anything about the eastern front B: there isn't one complete answer in here C: these are people you don't know 1: FDR was elected president in 1932 2: pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 3: D-Day June 6th, 1944 4: TDR dies, 1945 5: Truman becomes pres. April 12th 1945 6: Mussolini Captured by partisans and . Executed April 28th 7: Hitler commits suicide April 30th 1945 8: Bomb dropped, August 6th Bomb dropped on . Hiroshima 9: Soviets declare war on Japan, August 7 10: Bomb dropped on Nagasaki August 9th 1945 11: Japanese surrender August 14th 1945 There were obviously more factors than just pearl harbor when the United States entered the war. WWII's Victory was not solely because of the US. Although the bombing of Japan played a large part in the Japanese surrender, it was not the only factor. Consider this: A: both of its major allies were defeated B: a new super power had just declared war on them C: The allied powers were...well still allied