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In August of 1945, President Harry S Truman made the momentous decision to go ahead with a plan to use nuclear bombs against Japan. It was a lose-lose situation, justified in the end simply by calculating the number of potential fatalities -- how many people would die if we used it versus if we conducted a full invasion of Japan. Truman's decision has been criticized and defended ever since, and recently re-examined in the film "Oppenheimer."
Truman grew up in a middle class, Presbyterian family in an agricultural environment in Missouri. His early adult life involved five years in the Missouri National Guard along with some formal business education. He struggled with poor eyesight, which initially kept him out of the army.
However, when the U.S. entered World War I, Truman's National Guard unit was federalized, allowing him another chance to pass the physical. Truman was deployed to France, where he was promoted to Captain of Battery D. His unit was an active ground force during the Meuse-Argonne offensive of 1918, which led to the end of the war. Truman was awarded three prestigious medals of honor for his service. His war experience carried him forward politically all the way to the ever-haunting decision to drop the Atomic bomb, which would kill or debilitate hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese citizens.
Anyone over 70 remembers the dark day in November when President Kennedy was shot. The assassination and its aftermath are etched into our memories with eerie clarity. And most of us know something about his personal life as well as his career in the Navy.
Like Truman before him, Kennedy had physical problems that initially prohibited from serving in the military. And like Truman, he used an unorthodox method to gain admission (for Truman it was cheating on an eye exam, for Kennedy, his rich and influential father). Regardless of how he became a sailor, there is no denying his heroism as the lieutenant who survived a Japanese attack in the Pacific that destroyed his boat. He received a Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained and the Navy and Marine Corp Medal for courage and leadership.
As President, John Kennedy had to navigate the Cold War and increasing Russian aggression. A series of events involving Russian arms in Cuba brought the two nations to the brink of Nuclear war. The world stood still as Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev engaged in a standoff which could easily have resulted in a global catastrophe. It's hard to be sure what really took place behind the scenes during the final hour of negotiations, but the fatal bullet was dodged, and the nuclear threat subsided, at least for the better part of the next century.
Today, we need to worry again. International treaties that were designed specifically to curb the threat of nuclear war have been alarmingly reduced. The START and INF treaties which limit the production of warheads have expired. Moreover, the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) that strives to control the spread of arms seems very tenuous in today's war climate.
As for the current U.S. President, his background has been thoroughly vetted. There should be no question he is a prolific liar, lawbreaker and anti-constitutionalist. He has not demonstrated the ability to compromise, admit mistakes or atone for abuses of power. His complete ignorance regarding the U.S. bombing of a school full of girls in Iran proves his lack of conscience. Trump might have said in the past that he would never consider using nukes, but it should be no surprise if he changes his mind.
Such a leader -- one with no military experience yet has assumed the role of Commander in Chief of the strongest military in the world -- is extremely dangerous, especially with his back against the wall.
As I write this commentary, there are two major war theaters involving five nations -- The United States, Russia, Israel, Iran and Ukraine. As more and more other countries become involved, the threat of a third world war becomes more real. It is hard to keep the faith when, of the five aforementioned nations, two are led by snakes in the grass, one by a paranoid weasel, one by a wounded fox, and one by someone who at least appears to be a decent and courageous human being.
What the world needs now is not some big business deal. There is no win-win scenario possible because there is no trust. What we desperately need is new leadership that rejects the self-interest of ego driven men who play a game of thrones in which the common man and the natural environment have been reduced to mere commodities. We need leaders who understand that the world needs to be more connected and less divided, and that the survival of any one of us is dependent on the survival of us all.
Pete Howard, author of “Rosebud Dreamworld,” lives in Dunkirk.