In January, the American Legion demanded the cancellation, citing 'highly debatable information which calls into question the morality and motives of President Truman's decision to end World War II quickly and decisively by using the atomic bomb.'Įighty-one members of the House of Representatives then called for Harwit's removal. 'Martin Harwit was primarily responsible for the broadly acknowledged bias of this exhibit and was a willing participant in the effort to prevent changes at all costs,' Blute said. 'This resignation is the first in a long line of management changes that I expect to see.'Īnother congressional critic, Representative Peter Blute, R- Mass., said Harwit had backed an exhibit 'dedicated to political correctness and revisionist history rather than truth and balance.' 'I feel confident that we will continue to make sure that all of the museums are on the right track,' Johnson said. Harwit's critics said the exhibit, as planned, would have depicted the United States as the aggressor and Japan as the victim of World War II.įollowing Harwit's resignation, one of his critics, Representative Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who was named in January to the Smithsonian's board of regents, suggested that he still was not satisfied.
