What can be inferred about Stalin from this passage? In his memoirs, Truman wrote that he told Stalin that the
United States had a new weapon of unusual destructive
force." Apparently, the President did not tell Stalin the
new weapon was an atomic bomb, and the Soviet leader
did not ask or show any special interest. He merely
nodded and said something. "All he said was that he was
glad to hear it and hoped we would make good use of it
against the Japanese," Truman wrote,
Across the room, I watched Stalin's face carefully as the
President broke the news. So ofthand was Stalin's
response that there was some question in my mind
whether the President's message had got through. I
should have known better than to underrate the dictator.
Years later, Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov, in his memoirs,
disclosed that that night Stalin ordered a telegram sent to
those working on the atomic bomb in Russia to hurry
with the job.
Witness to History
O He did not want the United States to use the atomic
bomb against Japan.
O He did not understand what kind of weapon Truman
was talking about.
O He did not like it when others underestimated him.
O He already knew that the United States was
building an atomic bomb.