Some historians have claimed that the biggest mistake that Truman made during his presidency was his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Ever since Truman made that fateful decision, which claimed so many lives and wrought such appalling devastation, debate has raged as to whether or not it was justified. Opponents of Truman's decision regard it was not just immoral, but completely unnecessary. They argue that Japan was already on the verge of defeat in the late summer of 1945 anyway, and that final surrender wasn't too far away.
One could argue that a further mistake made by Truman was that he cut the defense budget too far and too fast, which left the United States unprepared for future challenges. Though it was understandable that Truman wanted to reduce military spending after the end of World War II, he placed too much reliance on the atomic bomb—as used to such devastating effect on Japan—to secure the United States against all external threats.
Truman's lack of flexibility hampered his Administration's efforts to adopt the kind of aggressive, proactive posture towards Communist expansion as outlined in the National Security Council's NSC 68 document. It wasn't until the Korean War that a more robust approach became apparent, but by then the Truman Administration wasn't so much shaping events as responding to them.
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