After years of a nationally consuming war, the American people were ready for the war to swiftly end. However, the way that it did was rather inauspicious. While FDR was still alive, Vice President Harry S Truman wasn't even fully aware of the Manhattan Project. It was only after FDR's death that Truman was presented with the option to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Historians universally agree that Truman's decision to drop the bomb was guided by his desire to cleanly end the conflict once and for all. However, a more controversial opinion asserts that the dropping of the bombs were also meant as a threat to the USSR. However, the general public opinion asserted that the bombings were for the greater good. I recommend watching the documentary The Atomic Cafe, which illustrates the birth and growth of the nuclear arms race.