On August 6, 1945 the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb
on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later another atomic bomb was
dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan. The events that led up to the United
States' decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japanese cities is extensive, historical
and political. President Roosevelt died, and Harry S. Truman took his place as
President of the United States in April. The atomic bombs were being developed at
this time as well, and in July the first one was successfully tested.
It was necessary for the United States to publicly justify its use of the
atomic bombs. Secretary of war, Henry L. Stimson, was chosen to write the article.
In February 1947 the article, "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb," was
published in Harper's Magazine. Stimson constructed the article in a manner that
would be consistent with American ideology and could be morally accepted by the
American readers.
Ideology provided the framework of the selected authors for analysis of
Stimson's article. The specific ideology focused on is the ideology of post World
War II America. This is the ideology in which Stimson's article "lived" in, and
influenced his choice of rhetoric; the main focus of the analysis is Stimson's
rhetoric.
Identifying the elements of the text of the article and the ideological
character of that text is key to understanding Stimson's choice of rhetoric. He
asked this audience to accept certain points in order to justify the United States' use
of the atomic bombs. He centered the article on themes such as American
dominance, leadership, and moral and intellectual superiority; he used specific
words and phrases to bring these themes to light.
While Stimson's article was, and is, an important source of information
there were many facts and events that he excluded from it to formulate the desired
version of the justification. Possibly, the most prominent of Stimson's
justifications for the use of the atomic bomb was this number of American lives
saved.
The analysis of this article and its findings are relevant in our understanding
of political reporting of important events. The importance of understanding how
and why Stimson used certain rhetoric to play to American ideological standards
can help Americans today and in the future to better understand the portrayals of
present day media coverage and political rhetoric. / Graduation date: 2003
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34291 |
| Date | 20 May 2002 |
| Creators | Swartz, Scott E. |
| Contributors | Keith, William M. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0024 seconds