What were the most likely reasons that US leaders decided to develop the atomic bomb? Select two options. They thought they needed to develop the atomic bomb before other countries did.
They wanted to be viewed by other nations as the most powerful nation in the world.
They believed that defeating Japan with regular weapons would be too costly in time and lives.
They believed they had to develop the atomic bomb to discover all of the uses of nuclear power.
They believed that only the United States was powerful enough to possess such a fearful weapon.

They believed that defeating Japan with regular weapons would be too costly in time and lives.

They wanted to be viewed by other nations as the most powerful nation in the world.

Explanation:

The U.S. leaders decided to develop atomic weapons as a response to the threat from the Nazis in Germany who were said to have been developing such kinds of weapon. However, under Harry Truman as the President, the U.S. actually dropped the bomb over Japan twice in order to defeat them in a speedy manner. This was also done in order to prevent having many American casualties if they ever invaded.

It is also said that they developed the atomic bomb during the "Cold War." An "arm race" happened whereby nations, especially the U.S. and the Soviet Union, tried to become more superior over the other by developing the best military weapons. When the Soviet tested their atomic bomb, the U.S. also announced that they'd be making an even better atomic bomb. This situation clearly showed how the Americans wanted to be viewed as the most powerful nation in the world.

explanation: we can only guess at how our actions may be perceived in the future. doing something really big like killing lots of people, saving lots of people, affecting the lives of lots of people is a sure fire way of being remembered in historical records. we can also make a difference in the history records by being a small influence on something bigger, whether that is as a civil servant, scientist or artist.

of course you could argue that we all affect history just as tiny cogs in a   bigger machine.

if you mean how do people influence our opinions of things which have already happened, then simply by writing a book which looks at things form a different perspective and trying to convince people that this perspective is more accurate or truthful. people do it all the time i.e. richard the third was a terrible or was he? plenty would disagree, it's just that their views aren't the most widely known.n: