S8 Ep114: Truman Takes Command: Unconditional Surrender and the Brutality of Final Battles Professor Gary Bass Harry Truman assumed the presidency unprepared for the war in Asia or foreign policy. He

Truman Takes Command: Unconditional Surrender and the Brutality of Final Battles Professor Gary Bass Harry Truman assumed the presidency unprepared for the war in Asia or foreign policy. He inherited the demand for unconditional surrender. The immense casualties at Okinawa terrified him about a ground invasion. Before the atomic bombs, US firebombing killed 210,000 Japanese, leading to warnings to Truman about "outdoing Hitler's atrocities." The Potsdam Declaration demanded "Stern justice" for war criminals.