
President Harry S. Truman meets with King George VI aboard the USS Augusta off the coast of Plymouth, England, 2 August 1945 [Public domain]
The atomic bomb was a focus of discussion. At least one of Truman’s party, Admiral William Leahy, was sure that the power of the bomb had been exaggerated and remarked that it sounded like a ‘professor’s dream.’
Later, after he had become fully aware of the bomb’s destructive power, Leahy condemned the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as barbaric.