← | →

Harry S. Truman

• Led the US through the Korean War. During the war, the US ran an extensive bombing campaign against North Korea. The bombing killed around 20% of the entire North Korean population. More bombs were dropped on Korea than the entire Pacific front of World War 2.
  
  
  Nearly every substantial building in the entire country was destroyed. Bombing runs on the capital, Pyongyang, were halted because there was nothing left to destroy. Towards the end of the American campaign, bombers would often jettison bombs into the ocean or bomb footbridges because there were no meaningful targets left. A team of international investigators from the Netherlands, China, West Germany, and East Germany stated:
  
  
  "The members, in the whole course of their journey, did not see one town that had not been destroyed, and there were very few undamaged villages."
  
  
  Eventually, American bombers ran low on urban targets and began bombing dams, which led to flooded farmlands and ruined crops.
• Dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings killed 130,000-220,000 people. A report from the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey stated that "Japan would have surrendered certainly prior to 31 December. .. and in all probability prior to November 1945 without the atomic bombing". Many - high - ranking - military - commanders - expressed doubts as to the necessity of the bombings.