In 1938 the world was terrified that Hitler may get his hands on a nuclear weapon. Because of this fear the United States secretly began the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan project was a project led by Robert Oppenheimer with the purpose of making a nuclear bomb capable of being used in warfare. In 1945 the project was finished and tested in New Mexico. After the successful test run, the United States knew that it had the most destructive weapon in the history of mankind. Now the only question was whether or not to use it, and if so when.