Following the end of World War II, America emerged as the only nation that had harnessed the power of an atom. The new source of power could be used for a constructive as well as destructive purpose. To figure out a plan of what course to follow, the United Nations created the Atomic Energy Commission. President Truman appointed Baruch as the representative from the United States.
In the atom we have the power for tremendous good as well as evil. The uses of nuclear energy – in science, medicine, industry, agriculture, transportation – are limitless. If we could but devote the atom to peace, we would have a tremendous weapon to use in the only war worth fighting – the war against hunger, poverty, and disease (The Public Years, 381-382).
The plan formulated by Baruch was for the United States to destroy all of its atomic weapons on the condition that atomic energy would only be used for peaceful purposes by other nations. He argued for specific safeguards to be imposed to prevent other nations from developing weapons. Due to the resistance of the Soviet Union, the Baruch Plan was never adapted.