Walter Lippmanns Views on Presidential Ability to Make...

Walter Lippmanns Views on Presidential Ability to Make U.S. Foreign Policy In his book entitled Public Opinion Walter Lippmann presents some very profound arguments on how public opinion is formed and how mach value it has. He describes in great detail the decision making process and how our own stereotypes affect our perception of events. Lippmann expresses his disillusionment with mass democracy, his concerns about propaganda and how the press could not be trusted to provide unbiased information. Contrary to what one would expect form someone holding such views Lippmann also questions the trustworthiness of the chief executive to make good foreign policy, even when he has all of the inside information and knows the true nature†¦show more content†¦However there are plenty of examples which show that Lippmann has hit on a key point here. One such example is the bombing of Nagasaki (second atomic bomb) and President Harry Truman. It has long been debated whether the second atomic bomb was really necessary to bring World War II to an end. Th ere has been much evidence that the Japanese had indicated a desire to surrender prior to the bombing but with the only condition that they be allowed to keep their emperor. An important clue was the diary of President Truman. The following is an excerpt from his diary concerning the use of the atomic bomb: Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new. When the official order for using the bombs was given there was no mention of sparing cities or civilian targets. The cities were the targets themselves. The point is that Trumans own personal stereotypes of the Japanese are evident in this entry. The entry can be interpreted as Truman viewing the Japanese as being less than human. When one views another group as being less than human it becomes much less difficult to give an order which will end the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. So it is quite possible that his own personal stereotypes played a role along with the argument that the bombs would expedite the end of the war and