No President other than Andrew Johnson came to the Presidency under such intense circumstances. Less than a month after Truman came to the Presidency, Germany surrendered, thus ending the war in Europe. Thus, Truman directed his full attention to the war in the Pacific that seemed far from over. Military experts estimated that 100,000 or more American lives would be lost before Tokyo could be conquored. Truman realized this fact, and issued Japan a final ultimatum, promising utter destruction if it did not surrender. When Japan failed to comply, Truman ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The attack killed 75,000 Japanese citizens. When no word of surrender came, Truman ordered the dropping of a second bomb over Nagasaki. Five days after that, Emperor Hirohito surrendered. Truman was severely criticized for dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, but to the end, he stood by his decision. I personally believe that it was the right decision. The civilian deaths were indeed tragic, but many more American and Japanese lives would've been lost had the war continued. Prior to the dropping of the atomic weapon, there was no end in sight to the War in the Pacific. Truman's decision took deep and personal courage, and it had to be a very difficult call to make. It was the right decision at the time, but in hindsight, we see that it had huge consequences. The dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan began the Nuclear Age, and soon thereafter, the Cold War. Following the war, Truman's focus continued to rest on Asia. He had tried since 1945 to get the Chinese Nationalists and Communists to work together in one government. He hoped thereby that Chiang Kai-shek, the Nationalist leader, would find time to deal with China's problems. The policy failed, and the Communists drove their foes from the mainland in 1949. Another major misstep was with the Korean War. In order to prevent the Communist-dominated North from overrunning the south, Truman ordered the use of military force in order to prevent the unification of a Communist Korea. He authorized U.S. forces to pursue the enemy into North Korea, and changed the goal of the war from containment to liberation. However, when China entered the war and drove anti-Communist forces back into the South, Truman quickly backed off, and retreated to his origional goal. He feared that an expansion of military operations in Korea, as General Douglas MacArthur advocated, would tie the U.S. down in Asia and start another World War. Truman's decision to back off in Korea may have been prudent at the time, but in hindsight, we once again see that a divided and unstable Korean peninsula was not a good thing. Fifty years later, North Korea possesses nuclear weapons and continues to threaten violence against the United States. Truman left office with the Korean situation not fully resolved until President Eisenhower officially ended the conflict in 1953. In the final analysis, President Truman, regardless of your opinion of him, has to atleast be commended for rising to the challenge following Roosevelt's death with virtually no knowledge on most operations. Both his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan and his actions in Korea had consequences in the decades that followed. However, at the time, they were considered prudent in that there was basically no other choice. Had he not dropped the bomb on Japan, the war would've continued for years to come, with countless lives lost. Had he not backed off in Korea, tensions would've mounted, and World War III may have become a reality. Just consider the circumstances under which Truman served, and how prudently he responded to the huge crises that he faced, and he certainly can be considered above average in crisis management.