Discussion Questions
Answer each of the following in at least 175 words. Support/illustrate your ideas and conclusions with specific evidence from the week’s lectures and historical documents.
- In your view, was President Truman correct to deploy atomic weapons against mainland Japan to end World War II, or should conventional tactics have been tried first? What led you to this conclusion?
- According to the attached Lecture 16, what was the significance of the creation of the Department of Defense and the CIA in the immediate postwar period? What did the United States mean by “national security” and why was the United States so focused on it? What impact do you think the creation of the DOD and the CIA had on American society? Give examples from the lecture.