\*\*[President Truman](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/truman-japanwarn/) in a August 9, 1945 radio address to the American people, outlined the reasons why we dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (and later Nagasaki)

> 
> **I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb.**
> Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster, which would come to this Nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first.
> That is why we felt compelled to undertake the long and uncertain and costly labor of discovery and production.\*\*
> 
> 
> We won the race of discovery against the Germans. Having found the bomb we have used it. We
> have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl
> Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed
> American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all
> pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. **We have used it
> in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of
> thousands and thousands of young Americans.**
> 
> 
> 

**How many lives did Truman's military experts estimate would be saved (on the Japanese/American sides) by dropping the two atom bombs?**

**How many lives do modern military historians estimate were saved by the two atom bombs?**