Dc a.t.o.m. organization8/10/2023 ![]() Marbury, a private attorney consulted by the War Department, worked with the Interim Committee to craft legislation that would ensure maximum security and military control long after the war ended. In the months leading up to and following the bombing of Japan in 1945, Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of the War General Royall and William L. Meanwhile, Manhattan Project scientists sent a petition to Truman in July of 1945 urging him to consider that “ attacks on Japan could not be justified, at least not unless the terms which will be imposed after the war on Japan were made public in detail and Japan were given an opportunity to surrender.” Atomic power provided great power, but “a nation which sets the precedent of using these newly liberated forces of nature for purposes of destruction may have to bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale.” Even before Truman ordered the use of the bombs, the stage was set for a showdown between scientists and the military over nuclear power. At the time, members of the Committee were already drafting legislation that would allow the military to continue to shape atomic research with little oversight from other agencies. Truman on the development and use of the bomb. In May of 1945, Secretary of War Henry Stimson established the Interim Committee (composed largely of military officials) to advise President Harry S. Their deep-seated beliefs on the need for a new approach to the use of atomic energy inspired their political action following the war.ĭuring the war, officials believed that long term military regulation of atomic energy was necessary for ensuring appropriate, defensive use of the bombs. But these same scientists feared that continued military regulation of research and development of atomic energy would signal to the world that the United States saw nuclear power as a weapon to be guarded instead of a new technology to be cooperatively cultivated for the advancement of humanity. Perhaps no group held more passionate views on these questions than, as one article proclaimed, “The Men Who Made the Bomb.” “Scientists were awesome creatures indeed to have built the bomb, men of limitless capacity to have harnessed such a colossal new source of energy and men almost from a different planet, politically speaking,” the article continued. The May-Johnson Bill and its provisions for military oversight of nuclear policy jeopardized future research and development. Courtesy of the Department of Energy Office of History and Heritage. From left to right are Senators Tom Connally, Eugene D. ![]() Top Image: President Harry S Truman signs the Atomic Energy Act of 1946.
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