In 1995, the Enola Gay exhibit was intended to open for the 50th anniversary of the day the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Japan. Michael Heyman, Secretary of the Smithsonian, had a vision of creating an exhibit that would inspire people to have more profound discussions about the atom bomb. A script was written to point out the different phases that took place before the decision to drop the bomb and the aftermath of that decision. The controversy surrounding the Enola Gay exhibit stems from disagreements between the Smithsonian, historians, members of Congress, veterans, and those who were there for the event that shook the world. The Smithsonian wanted to make Americans and those who saw the exhibit reevaluate their understanding of World War II. Those who opposed the exhibit, however, were concerned with the credibility and the message it was trying to send. The question was whether the Smithsonian Institution's exhibition of Enola Gay was non-biased, or if, instead, it was intended as an instrument of propaganda. This dispute and various other events led to the controversy over the Enola Gay exhibit and its eventual cancellation.
             The exhibition was supposed to contain five controversial narrative sections. The first section was to deal with Japanese invasions and the attack on Pearl Harbor. The next would explain the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb. The third was to focus on the handling of the bomb from the secret factories to the loading onto the plane. The fourth section was intended to reveal the horrible destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after they were bombed, and the final section of the exhibition was scheduled to discuss the problems of nuclear weapons and the arms race that followed the war.
             To the Smithsonian, the Enola Gay was instrumental in events that changed our world. Both Americans and the Japanese were meant to have the opportunity to see the exhibit and to try to understand the complex...