The devil's blessing: Harry Truman and international control of the atomic bomb, September 1945-June 1946

Abstract

As the first president who took a step towards nuclear non-proliferation, Truman's policy concerning the atomic weapons is worthy of academic scrutiny. This work focuses on the ten-month period from September 1945 to June 1946, during which American government initiated the international control of the atomic energy. Truman's domestic and foreign policy regarding this issue was influenced by several external and internal factors, including the supporters and opponents of the international control, rise of bipartisanship, the Republican opposition, public opinion and the Soviet conduct in different parts of the world. The focus of the thesis is President Truman and the shift in the foreign policy. The main argument revolves around how the president saw the international control, what factors affected his decisions and which actors were involved. From Secretary of War Stimson's proposal in September 1945 on approaching the Soviets to the collapse of the negotiations in the United Nations Atomic Energy Committee meeting in June 1946, Truman pursued policies that were in support of the international control. To come to this conclusion, primary documents, such as diaries, memoirs, state papers and newspaper editorial were used as well as the secondary sources following a chronological order.