In a speech at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Obama called for an end to nuclear weapons. On June 6, 1945, Obama said, "death fell from the sky and the world was changed." When the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and then Nagasaki, killing about 210,000 people and effectively ending World War II, the bomb "demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself."
"We stand here in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell," Obama said, "We listen to a silent cry." He did not apologize, but said the memory of Hiroshima "must never fade." He ended his speech with a call for "a future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not known as the dawn of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Foreigners in Spain facing a 100% tax on homes as the country battles a housing crisisUnder the Radar The goal is to provide 'more housing, better regulation and greater aid,' said Spain's prime minister
-
Sudoku hard: January 22, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Codeword: January 22, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Trump starts term with spate of executive ordersSpeed Read The president is rolling back many of Joe Biden's climate and immigration policies
-
Trump pardons or commutes all charged Jan. 6 riotersSpeed Read The new president pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US SenateSpeed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
-
Pam Bondi downplays politics at confirmation hearingSpeed Read Trump's pick for attorney general claimed her Justice Department would not prosecute anyone for political reasons
-
Biden warns of oligarchy in farewell addressSpeed Read The president issued a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked power in the hands of the ultra-wealthy
-
Hegseth boosts hopes for confirmation amid grillingSpeed Read The Senate held confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary nominee
-
Biden removes Cuba from terrorism blacklistSpeed read The move is likely to be reversed by the incoming Trump administration, as it was Trump who first put Cuba on the terrorism blacklist in his first term
