by A. J. Baime
“I’m not going to stay around”: Longhand note, July 18, 1945.
“Stalin ” Truman concluded: Jonathan Daniels, The Man of Independence (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat, 1950), p. 278.
“This whole environment at Berlin”: Henry L. Stimson to “My Darling” (Mrs. Stimson), July 18, 1945, Henry Lewis Stimson Papers, Yale University Library.
“There was evident . . . palpable”: Henry L. Stimson and McGeorge Bundy, On Active Service in Peace and War (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948), p. 638.
“The hall was filled with soldiers”: Bohlen, Witness to History, p. 228.
“Jewels, rings traded for bread”: John W. Huston, ed., American Airpower Comes of Age: General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold’s World War II Diaries (Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Press, 2002), p. 376.
“Listen, I know you’re alone”: Conversation from oral history interview, Floyd M. Boring, p. 16, Truman Library.
“Admiral Leahy said he’d never”: H. S. Truman to B. W. Truman, July 18, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 14, Truman Papers.
Chapter 34
“complaints” or “accusations”: Ben Cohen, meeting minutes, Potsdam Third Plenary Meeting, July 19, 1945, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, Conference of Berlin, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv02/d710a-29.
“I am here to discuss world”: Ibid.
“On a number of occasions”: Memoirs by Harry S. Truman: 1945; Year of Decisions (New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1955), p. 369.
“portrays the classic tradition”: Joseph E. Davies, “The Chiefs of State” at Potsdam, July 19, 1945, Joseph Edward Davies Papers, box 18, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
“has no such graciousness”: Ibid.
“He was thrown into this arena”: Ibid.
“the fur flew”: Diary of Joseph E. Davies, July 19, 1945, Davies Papers, box 18.
“It has exhausted me”: Ibid.
“The maintenance of the dynasty”: Robert P. Newman, Truman and the Hiroshima Cult (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1995), p. 68.
“We have been fully aware”: “Magic” Diplomatic Summary, July 17, 1945, National Security Archive, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/33.pdf.
“If today, when we are still”: Ibid.
“I felt that there would be no”: Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, vol. 6, Triumph and Tragedy (New York: Bantam, 1953), p. 548.
“terrible political repercussions”: Joseph C. Grew, forwarding Cordell Hull note to James F. Byrnes, July 16, 1945, SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 6, National Archives, College Park, MD.
“crucify”: Robert J. Donovan, Conflict and Crisis: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1945–1948 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1977), p. 99.
“I cannot speak for others but”: Len Giovannitti and Fred Freed, The Decision to Drop the Bomb (New York: Coward-McCann, 1965), p. 187.
“I have to make it perfectly plain”: Harry S. Truman to Bess W. Truman, July 20, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 14, Truman Papers.
“Had Churchill on my right”: Ibid.
“That gives us two drinks”: “Dinner at the Little White House,” Davies diary, July 20, 1945.
“I raise my glass to the leader”: Ibid.
“Jim Byrnes was in unusually”: Ibid.
“Better spruce up”: “Potsdam Conference,” New Yorker, December 29, 1945.
“A toast to the pianist!”: Ibid.
“Well, you know there are”: Ibid.
“Marshal Stalin,” Truman said: Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman (New York: William Morrow, 1973), p. 281.
“The ambassadors and Jim”: H. S. Truman to B. W. Truman, July 20, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 14, Truman Papers.
“You never saw as completely”: Ibid.
“General Eisenhower, officers, and men”: Informal Remarks of the President at the Raising of the Stars and Stripes . . . , July 20, 1945, PSF, box 197, Truman Papers.
“Flag was on the White House”: Longhand note, July 20, 1945, National Security Archive, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/38.pdf.
“It all feels flat and empty”: Charles L. Mee Jr., Meeting at Potsdam (New York: Franklin Square, 1975), p. 167.
“an expression of historical”: “Summary of the Views Expressed by the Polish Delegation to the Meeting of Foreign Ministers, July 24, 1945,” SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 4, Truman Library.
“There were many other matters”: Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy, p. 574.
“the most colossal blank check”: John Lewis Gaddis, The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1972), p. 152.
“The United States can not, moreover”: Ben Cohen, meeting minutes, Potsdam Fourth Plenary Meeting, July 20, 1945, Foreign Relations: Diplomatic Papers, Conference of Berlin, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv02/d710a-44.
“Started with caviar and vodka”: H. S. Truman to Margaret Truman, July 22, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 18, Truman Papers.
“Tell the president it is French”: Harry S. Truman, “Cold War Starts at Potsdam,” Life, October 17, 1945.
“get even”: William D. Leahy, I Was There: The Personal Story of the Chief of Staff to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman Based on His Notes and Diaries at the Time (New York: Whittlesey House, 1950), p. 412.
“Much is going on here that”: Davies diary, July 20, 1945, Davies Papers, box 18.
“It was an immensely powerful”: Diary of Henry L. Stimson, July 21, 1945, Henry Lewis Stimson Papers, Yale University Library.
“At 530, 16 July 1945, in a remote”: Leslie R. Groves, memorandum for the secretary of war, July 18, 1945, Truman Papers, https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/index.php?documentid=2&pagenumber=1.
“were immensely pleased”: Stimson diary, July 21, 1945.
“huge concentrations of highly”: Ibid.
“As to the present war, there was”: Ibid.
“tremendously pepped up”: Stimson diary, July 21, 1945.
“Stimson, what was gunpowder?”: Herbert Feis, The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1966), p. 87.
Chapter 35
“With regard to unconditional”: “Magic” Diplomatic Summary, July 22, 1945, National Security Archive, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/40.pdf.
“The Japanese military forces”: “Potsdam Declaration,” July 26, 1945, Birth of the Constitution of Japan, National Diet Library, http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html.
“utter destruction”: Ibid.
“We call upon the government”: Ibid.
“The weapon is to be used”: Longhand note, July 25, 1945, Truman Papers, https://www.trumanlibrary.org/flip_books/index.php?tldate=1945-07-25&groupid=3702&titleid=&pagenumber=1&collectionid=ihow.
“the supreme operations in the war”: Document no. 1381, Combined Chiefs of Staff to Truman and Churchill, July 24, 1945, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv02/d1381.
“encourage Russian entry into”: Ibid.
“All of us wanted Russia”: Harry S. Truman to Bess W. Truman, March 3, 1948, represented in Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman (New York: William Morrow, 1973), p. 35.
“We have been unable”: This conversation from Ben Cohen, meeting minutes, Potsdam Eighth Plenary Meeting, July 24, 1945, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, Conference of Berlin, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv02/d710a-94.
“I casually mentioned to Stalin”: Memoirs by Harry S. Truman: 1945; Year of Decisions (New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1955), p. 416.
“So offhand was Stalin’s response”: Charles E. Bohlen, Witness to History: 1929–1969 (New York: W. W. Norton, 1973), p. 237.
“How did it go?”: Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, vol. 6, Triumph and Tragedy (New York:
Bantam, 1962), p. 573.
“I should have known”: Bohlen, Witness to History, p. 237.
“speed things up”: Charles L. Mee Jr., Meeting at Potsdam (New York: Franklin Square, 1975), p. 174.
“The translation was not finished”: Truman, Memoirs, p. 390.
“I must say good luck”: Diary of Joseph E. Davies, July 25, 1945, Joseph Edward Davies Papers, box 19, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
“What a pity”: Conversation from Truman, Memoirs, p. 389.
“There was a glint of a tear”: Davies diary, July 25, 1945.
“There are some things”: H. S. Truman to B. W. Truman, July 25, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 15, Truman Papers.
“if, now, the president is not”: Ibid.
“bear thinking over”: Davies diary, July 5, 1945.
“It scared him so badly”: H. S. Truman to B. W. Truman, July 27, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 15.
“Now, in the car”: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe (New York: Avon, 1952), p. 489.
“Mr. President,” he said: Ibid.
“We, the president of the United”: “Potsdam Declaration.”
“The President’s wish is”: Charles G. Ross to Eben A. Ayers, July 27, 1945, SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 5, Truman Library.
“He looked tired”: Davies diary, July 27, 1945.
Chapter 36
“Important day”: Diary of Walter Brown, July 27, 1945, National Security Archives, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb525-The-Atomic-Bomb-and-the-End-of-World-War-II/documents/049.pdf
as “a basis for negotiations”: John Lewis Gaddis, The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1972), p. 129.
“If you say I owe you a million”: Walter Brown, minutes of Byrnes-Molotov meeting, July 27, 1945, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb525-The-Atomic-Bomb-and-the-End-of-World-War-II/documents/049.pdf.
“woodworking machines, bakery ovens”: Diary of Edwin W. Pauley, n.d., “Potsdam,” Edwin W. Pauley Papers, box 18, Truman Library.
“swarms of workmen”: Lucien Gulick and J. Howard Marshall, memorandum, “Russian Machinery Removals from Berlin,” July 25, 1945, SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 4, Truman Library.
“Yes,” he said, “this is the case”: James F. Byrnes, Speaking Frankly (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1947), p. 83.
“namely, that each country”: Charles Bohlen, minutes of Byrnes-Molotov meeting, July 27, 1945, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, Conference of Berlin, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv02/d710a-126.
“would have a free hand”: Ibid.
“The Secretary [Byrnes] said that was”: Ibid.
“The Secretary said that he felt”: Bohlen minutes of Byrnes-Molotov meeting.
“terribly homesick”: Harry S. Truman to Bess W. Truman, July 29, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 15, Truman Papers.
“Well,” the missive began: H. S. Truman to Martha Ellen Truman and Mary Jane Truman, July 28, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 19, Truman Papers.
“The debate on the United Nations”: Edward R. Stettinius to Truman and James F. Byrnes, July 28, 1945, SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 6.
“It is deeply gratifying that”: Charles G. Ross to Eben A. Ayers, July 28, 1945, SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 5.
“does not consider”: Charles L. Mee Jr., Meeting at Potsdam (New York: Franklin Square, 1975), p. 174.
“prosecute the war of Great East”: “Japanese Cabinet Weighs Ultimatum,” New York Times, July 28, 1945.
“Japs . . . used several planes”: Map Room to Advance Map Room, July 30, 1945, SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 6.
JAPANESE CABINET WEIGHS ULTIMATUM: “Japanese Cabinet Weighs.”
“Although [Churchill] was their antagonist”: William D. Leahy, I Was There: The Personal Story of the Chief of Staff to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman Based on His Notes and Diaries Made at the Time (New York: Whittlesey House, 1950), p. 419.
“The Russian delegation was given”: Ben Cohen, meeting minutes, Potsdam Tenth Plenary Meeting, July 28, 1945, Foreign Relations: Diplomatic Papers, Conference of Berlin, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv02/d710a-131.
“I received another communication”: Ibid.
“I appreciate very much”: Ibid.
“The time schedule on Groves’ project”: Henry L. Stimson to Truman, July 30, 1945, Truman Papers, https://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/arnimage1.htm.
“Suggestion approved. Release when”: Longhand note on back of Stimson to Truman cable, July 30, 1945, Ibid.
“This was not foreseen at all”: Oral history interview, George M. Elsey, p. 350, Truman Libary.
“Marshal Stalin,” Truman said: Robert J. Donovan, Conflict and Crisis: The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1945–1948 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1977), p. 88.
“There was no way we could”: W. Averell Harriman and Elie Abel, Special Envoy to Churchill and Stalin 1941–1946 (New York: Random House, 1975), p. 479.
“You can sign any time you want”: Memoirs by Harry S. Truman: 1945; Year of Decisions (New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1955), p. 410.
“I declare the Berlin Conference”: Conversation from Mee, Meeting at Potsdam, pp. 222–23.
“the Limey King”: H. S. Truman to B. W. Truman, July 31, 1945, FBPAP:FCF, box 15.
“My general feeling”: Leahy, I Was There, p. 426.
“Potsdam had brought”: Ibid., p. 429.
“Truman had stood up”: Ibid., p. 427.
Chapter 37
“Welcome to my country”: Log of the President’s Trip to Berlin Conference, August 2, 1945, Truman Library.
“most of our luncheon conversation”: James F. Byrnes, Speaking Frankly (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1947), p. 263.
“I do not think it will be”: William D. Leahy, I Was There: The Personal Story of the Chief of Staff to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman Based on His Notes and Diaries Made at the Time (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1950), p. 431.
“Admiral, would you like”: Ibid.
“military objectives and soldiers”: Longhand note, July 25, 1945, Truman Papers, https://www.trumanlibrary.org/flip_books/index.php?tldate=1945-07-25&groupid=3702&titleid=&pagenumber=1&collectionid=ihow.
“The President, coming home from”: Oral history interview, Samuel I. Rosenman, pp. 57–58, Truman Library.
“The Potsdam communique”: Edward R. Murrow, In Search of Light: The Broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow, 1938–1961 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967), p. 100.
LeMay issued a warning: “12 Japanese Cities Get B-29 Warnings,” New York Times, August 1, 1945.
“death list”: “150-Mile Train of 800 B-29s Strikes with 6000 Tons,” Washington Post, August 2, 1945.
“the greatest single aerial strike”: “World Peak Blow,” New York Times, August 2, 1945.
“The sight was incredible”: “Japs Hit by Mightiest of All Air Raids,” Monroe Evening Times, Monroe, Wisconsin, August 2, 1945.
“the Manhattan Project”: Communications to the Map Room, August 3, 1945, SMOF: Naval Aide to the President Files, box 5, Truman Library.
“Captain Vardaman”: Ibid., August 4, 1945.
“was happy and thankful”: David McCullough, Truman (New York: Touchstone, 1993), pp. 453–54.
“an S.O.B.”: John Lewis Gaddis, The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1972), p. 243.
“The six most important industrial”: W. F. Craven and J. L. Cate, eds., The Army Air Forces in World War II, vol. 5, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki (Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1983), p. 642.
“I didn’t know much about this”: Curtis E. LeMay with MacKinlay Kantor, Mission with LeMay: My Story (New York: Doubleday, 1965), p. 379.
“an Army city . . . a major”: Memorandum, “Hiroshima,” PSF, box 195, Truman Pape
rs.
“an elongated trash can”: Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb (New York: Touchstone, 1986), p. 701.
“Tinian is a miracle”: Michael D. Gordin, Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007), p. 60.
“By dinnertime on the fifth”: Rhodes, Making of the Atomic Bomb, p. 704.
“It is like some weird dream”: Ibid., p. 700.
“to be with those who brave”: Ibid.
“Faith of our fathers, we will strive”: “President Prays, Sings on Augusta,” Atlanta Constitution, August 6, 1945.
“Dimples Eight Two to North”: Paul W. Tibbets, “How to Drop an Atom Bomb,” Saturday Evening Post, June 8, 1946.
“Fifteen seconds to go”: Rhodes, Making of the Atomic Bomb, p. 705.
“It’s Hiroshima”: Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing Timeline, Atomic Heritage Foundation, http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-bombing-timeline.
“I see it!”: Rhodes, Making of the Atomic Bomb, p. 709.
“For the next minute”: “Hiroshima Bomb Log Sold for $350,000,” BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1898263.stm.
“I threw off the automatic”: Tibbets, “How to Drop an Atom Bomb.”
“There were two very distinct”: “Hiroshima A-Bomb Log Nets $37,000,” New York Times, November 24, 1971.
“We turned back to look”: “Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—1945,” online article, Atomic Heritage Foundation, http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-1945.
“Thank God the war is over”: Rhodes, Making of the Atomic Bomb, p. 711.
“We heard a big noise like”: “Hiroshima Survivor Recalls Day Atomic Bomb Was Dropped,” VOA News, October 30, 2009. Also: Email and telephone correspondence with Ms. Morimoto West.
“A sudden flash, an explosion”: “A-Bombed Hiroshima—Today and ‘That Day’ in 1945,” Washington Post, August 2, 1955.
Also at the table: Log of the President’s Trip to Berlin Conference, July 7, 1945, Truman Library.