book lloyd asks henry stenson his boss at the war department, and stenson cisco had.says i think we're out of our heads examined if we don't least discussed the bomb. that was literally in this war cabinet the first time in this meeting they've been talking about the casualties and the length invasion and a bloody was going to be and nobody ever said that we might have the bomb, until he said basically it was dismissed at that point largely because it'd never been tested. it wasn't tested until july 18 just 21 21 days before the boms used against hiroshima, and at that point back in june, treatment did it as a science project. if it worked, right, if it didn't we had to go ahead. >> so many historical moments you wrote about, chris. i wonder, i know you're a student of history. what is it that made you choose this particular moment? >> well, it's a funny story. i had the idea of doing exactly what i talked about, to take a key moment in history and try to put you in it. at the time they didn't all these, they are faced with these momentous challenges and didn't know w

he killed those people, and i had the authority of the best men in the business and that was henry l. stenson and the only one that would show them what it was and that's what happened. it stopped the war. i don't care what the cry babies say now because they didn't have to make the decision. >> joining us from chicago is clifton truman daniel, the grandson of president harry truman joining us this morning on the 75th anniversary of hiroshima. welcome to "washington journal". >> thank you. you were 15 years old when your grandfather -- when harry truman passed away and you've said in past conversations with us and elsewhere that you never had a chance to talk with him directly about the decision to bomb hiroshima and nagasaki. what have you -- what have you come to in terms of his decision? what is your view of the decision to drop those bombs? why do you think your grandfather made that decision? >> my grandfather always said that he made the decision to save the war and save american and japanese lives and i understand that was a simplistic answer and that was something he stuck to all of h