DATE: August 5, 2025
BYLINE: Cliff Potts, WPS News

Before Hiroshima, What Was on Truman’s Desk?

As the world marks the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, myth still clouds the truth: that Japan was ready to surrender and Truman ignored peace overtures to flex power or send a message to the Soviet Union. But when you strip away the postwar moral justification and look strictly at the facts, one thing becomes clear: no official peace offer from the Japanese government ever landed on Truman’s desk before August 6, 1945.

The Backchannel That Wasn’t a Surrender

In the weeks before the bombs dropped, Japan was fishing for a way out—but not with the United States. Japanese diplomats reached out to the Soviet Union, which was still technically neutral at the time, asking if Moscow could mediate a peace agreement.

This wasn’t some grand moral awakening from the Japanese high command—it was a desperate ploy to secure a conditional surrender that would preserve the imperial system, including the Emperor’s role as a living deity. Tokyo’s envoy in Moscow, Naotake Sato, had no authority to negotiate terms, and Soviet officials gave him nothing but the diplomatic runaround.

Still, U.S. officials knew what was going on. American intelligence had broken Japanese codes and was intercepting diplomatic communications via the MAGIC decrypts. The intercepts showed clearly that Japan was unwilling to accept unconditional surrender as demanded by the Potsdam Declaration, issued by the U.S., U.K., and China on July 26, 1945.

The Emperor Remained Silent

Contrary to the postwar narratives, Emperor Hirohito didn’t personally reach out to the United States. There was no direct message from the throne to President Truman. The Japanese war cabinet was fractured, with hardliners refusing to consider surrender unless the emperor system was guaranteed—and even then, only under certain conditions that were never officially transmitted to Washington.

The idea that Japan was “about to surrender” simply isn’t backed by the historical record. Yes, there were people inside Japan’s government and military who knew the war was lost. But there was no unified message, no official transmission to the Americans, and no hard offer of surrender with terms the U.S. could accept.

What Truman Actually Had

What President Truman had was this:

  • Intercepted messages from Japanese diplomats asking the Soviets to negotiate on their behalf.
  • No response to the Potsdam Declaration, which explicitly warned of “prompt and utter destruction” if Japan refused unconditional surrender.
  • A military that believed a costly invasion of the Japanese home islands would be required to end the war if no alternative was found.

On that basis—and with no formal, actionable peace offer—Truman authorized the use of atomic weapons.

What This Means

This doesn’t excuse the bombing. But it does destroy the narrative that a clear diplomatic offramp existed and was deliberately ignored to “send a message to Stalin.” The U.S. government had intelligence suggesting Japan was not ready to surrender unconditionally, and without an official Japanese proposal on the table, the decision-makers in Washington moved forward with the bomb.

You can—and should—argue whether that was moral, necessary, or evil. But don’t twist the facts. The record shows: Japan never directly offered to surrender before Hiroshima.

SOURCES (APA Format)

Hasegawa, T. (2005). Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

National World War II Museum. (2020, August 14). “Pretty Little Phrases”: Japanese Diplomacy in 1945. Retrieved from https://www.nationalww2museum.org

Kuzmarov, J., & Peace, R. (2021, October 15). Was There a Diplomatic Alternative? The Atomic Bombing and Japan’s Surrender. Asia-Pacific Journal, 19(20). Retrieved from https://apjjf.org/2021/20/Kuzmarov.html

United States Department of War. (1945). MAGIC: Diplomatic Summary. Declassified communications via MAGIC intercepts.

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