ADMIRAL WILLIAM D. LEAHY

Admiral Leahy was the Chief of Staff to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and the unofficial coordinator of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A close advisor to both presidents, he thought a Japanese surrender could be arranged without use of the atomic bomb and without an invasion of the Japanese mainland. He felt that demands for unconditional surrender would only encourage Japan to fight on and cost American lives.

He was a staunch anti-communist and did not like the idea of having Russia enter the Pacific War, which could give the Russians more post-war control of Pacific territory.

Leahy believed the atomic bomb would probably not work. After the atomic bombings of Japan, Leahy condemned the use of the atomic bomb for practical reasons:

"It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons." (William D. Leahy, I Was There, pg. 441).

And on Aug. 8, 1945 he wrote in his diary:

"there is a certainty that it [the a-bomb] will in the future be developed by potential enemies and that it will probably be used against us."

He also objected to the a-bomb's use for moral reasons:

"in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages" (William D. Leahy, I Was There, pg. 441).

- Doug Long

For further information:

William D. Leahy, I Was There

Henry H. Adams, Witness to Power: The Life of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy

The Papers of William D. Leahy. Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

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