The Wealth Code

In April 1945, Harry S. Truman unexpectedly became president after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Within weeks, Truman learned about one of the most secret military projects in history — the Manhattan Project.

Scientists had successfully created a weapon more powerful than anything ever used in war.

At the time, World War II in Europe had ended, but the war against Japan continued.

Military planners warned that invading the Japanese mainland could cost hundreds of thousands of American lives and potentially millions of Japanese casualties.

Truman faced an impossible decision.

In August 1945, he approved the use of atomic weapons.

On August 6, an American bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Three days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

The destruction was unprecedented.

Within days, Japan announced its surrender.

World War II was finally over.

But the use of atomic weapons opened a new and dangerous chapter in world history — the nuclear age.

Even today, the decision remains one of the most debated actions ever taken by an American president.