S8 Ep293: TRUMAN INHERITS A WORLD WAR AND THE BURDEN OF JUDGMENT Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. Following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945, Harry Truman assumed the presidency with little preparation regarding foreign policy or the situati

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 10 January 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

TRUMAN INHERITS A WORLD WAR AND THE BURDEN OF JUDGMENT Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. Following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945, Harry Truman assumed the presidency with little preparation regarding foreign policy or the situation in Asia. While Truman possessed combat experience from World War I, his understanding of China and Japan relied heavily on stereotypes and idealism rather than briefing. Confronted immediately with the bloody Battle of Okinawa and the devastation of the firebombing of Tokyo, Truman upheld the Allies' demand for unconditional surrender. This policy necessitated stripping Japan of its empire and trying its leadership, despite growing private concerns among some US officials that American strategic bombing might equate to war crimes. NUMBER 1
1930 TOKYO

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0:00.0	This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Batchelor.
0:12.0	This is CBS. I on the world. I'm John Batchel. Judgment at Tokyo, World War II on trial and the making of a modern Asia. I welcome Professor Gary Bass.
0:23.6	The book is overwhelming, and we begin with an overwhelming day.
0:27.6	April 12, 1945.
0:30.6	Harry Truman is back into the White House late in the afternoon.
0:34.6	He's been at Congress. That's his job as vice president to sit in over the U.S.
0:40.8	Senate. But he's now beckoned to the White House. Taking upstairs, Eleanor Roosevelt greets him to say,
0:47.0	President Franklin Deliver Roosevelt is dead. Harry Truman, at that moment, it's President of
0:53.6	the United States.
0:55.3	I welcome Professor Bass to comment on Harry Truman's understanding of what we're about to take on, which is the Tokyo War Crimes trial.
1:04.8	Professor, congratulations and very good evening to you.
1:08.5	You make it very clear that Harry Truman had not been well briefed at
1:13.2	all about foreign policy, but especially about Asia. And that moment, he has all of the war on him.
1:21.1	It's still underway in Europe. It's still underway in Japan across the Pacific. What do we know
1:27.4	about his understanding of the Japanese
1:29.8	Empire and the Chinese War and the Philippines devastation? Was he at that moment starting to
1:39.0	learn? Did he come to some revelation that's important to understand? Good evening, too.
1:45.5	Good evening and thank you for having me on. For Truman, it's a, this shocking moment where all of a sudden, the presidency
1:51.6	falls on him and he's not at all prepared for it. FDR, when he's sort of privately assessing
1:58.2	the man that his own vice president says that Truman is very smart and has a, you know, has a good conscience, is a good man, but knows very little about foreign policy.
2:09.7	One thing to Truman does know is he's been, he was a soldier in World War I.
2:15.8	He's been under artillery fire.
	...

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