Obama Makes History Again: First Sitting President to Visit Hiroshima

Today President Obama made history as the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, the site of an American-inflicted nuclear attack that left an estimated 140,000 people dead.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>President Obama's speech in Hiroshima <a href=”https://t.co/96NR2CYkp9″>https://t.co/96NR2CYkp9</a> <a href=”https://t.co/pMyyt5HixP”>pic.twitter.com/pMyyt5HixP</a></p>— The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href=”https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/736164067757395968″>May 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Obama headed to Hiroshima after he finished the final G-7 Summit of his presidency. He visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a site dedicated to the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>President Obama embraced Shigeaki Mori, a survivor of the Hiroshima attack, after his speech <a href=”https://t.co/kvPkudEjgT”>https://t.co/kvPkudEjgT</a> <a href=”https://t.co/NofAKMw1Hg”>pic.twitter.com/NofAKMw1Hg</a></p>— The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href=”https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/736176649063038976″>May 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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According to a statement from the White House press secretary, the President’s visit to Hiroshima highlights “his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”

In an apparent nod to critics who have characterized the visit as an “apology tour,” Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, wrote that the president “will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II.”

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Obama in Hiroshima calls for 'world without nuclear weapons' <a href=”https://t.co/sKLx5XD9Hx”>https://t.co/sKLx5XD9Hx</a> <a href=”https://t.co/e3C7pzmZkI”>https://t.co/e3C7pzmZkI</a></p>— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) <a href=”https://twitter.com/CNNnewsroom/status/736182418202206209″>May 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Rhodes wrote that Obama instead planned to offer “a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future.”

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Today <a href=”https://twitter.com/POTUS”>@POTUS</a> became the first sitting US President to visit Hiroshima. Here's what he said: <a href=”https://t.co/kQX3OXEfmF”>https://t.co/kQX3OXEfmF</a></p>— Ben Rhodes (@rhodes44) <a href=”https://twitter.com/rhodes44/status/736195008223551488″>May 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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