Ralph Austin Bard

Ralph Austin Bard
Under Secretary of the Navy
In office
June 24, 1944 – June 30, 1945
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Preceded byJames Forrestal
Succeeded byArtemus Gates
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
In office
February 24, 1941 – June 24, 1944
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byLewis Compton
Succeeded byH. Struve Hensel
Personal details
BornJuly 29, 1884 (1884-07-29)
Cleveland, Ohio, US
DiedApril 5, 1975 (1975-04-06) (aged 91)
Deerfield, Illinois, US
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Hancock Spear
Children4, including Katharine Bard
Alma materPrinceton University
Occupationfinancier
AwardsNavy Distinguished Service Medal[1]
Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award
Signature

Ralph Austin Bard (July 29, 1884 – April 5, 1975) was a Chicago financier who served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1941–1944, and as Under Secretary, 1944–1945. He is noted for a memorandum he wrote to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson in 1945 urging that Japan be given a warning before the use of the atomic bomb on a strategic city. He was "the only person known to have formally dissented from the use of the atomic bomb without advance warning."[2]

  1. ^ "Hall of Valor: Ralph A. Bard". militarytimes.com. Sightline Media Group. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  2. ^ Gar Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995), p. 225. ISBN 0-679-44331-2