Grew wrote in 1942 that while he expected Nazi Germany to collapse as the German Empire had in 1918 , he did not expect the Japanese Empire to do so : Grew became a member of a committee , along with the Secretary of War , Henry Stimson , and the Secretary of the Navy , James Forrestal , that sought to work out an alternative to the use of the atomic bomb as a weapon , in order to bring about Japan 's surrender . Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy drafted a proposed surrender demand for the Committee of Three , which was incorporated into Article 12 of the Potsdam Declaration . The original language of the Proclamation would have increased the chances for Japanese surrender as it allowed the Japanese government to maintain its emperor as a " constitutional monarchy " . President Harry S. Truman , who was influenced by Secretary of State James Byrnes during the trip via warship to Europe for the Potsdam Conference , changed the language of the surrender demand . Grew knew how important the emperor was to the Japanese people and believed that the condition could have led to Japanese surrender without using the atomic bombs
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
Joseph Grew