Question

If you were president Truman would you have dropped nuclear weapons on the Chinese like general MacArthur wanted?

Answer 1

Answer: No

Explanation:

The world was simply not ready for another nuclear strike at the time and especially not against a country like China. China had just become a communist country and had the support of the Soviet Union. Any nuclear attacks on China might have led to all out war with the Chinese and the Soviets which would have definitely involved nuclear weapons.

Also worthy of note was that the Chinese had practiced restraint in the Korean war. They did not use heavy machinery and were content to limit their attacks on the UN forces after some time which showed that they too did not want to escalate the conflict. A diplomatic solution was therefore the best option and what I would have sought, much like Truman did.