Which U.S. president announced Victory over Japan Day in 1945?

Harry S. Truman announced Victory over Japan Day in 1945.

Truman was the U.S. president when Japan accepted the Allied surrender terms and when the formal surrender ceremony was held. He announced the end of the war against Japan in a White House statement and speech. In the United States, V-J Day is commonly associated with August 14, 1945, because the news reached the country during that date in U.S. time zones.

The date can be confusing because Japan announced its decision on August 15 in Japanese local time, while the formal surrender document was signed on September 2. Different countries therefore commemorated victory on different dates. The United States commonly used August 14, while many other countries used August 15 or September 2 for the formal ceremony.

Truman had become president after Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April 1945. He oversaw the final months of the war, the atomic-bomb decision, Japan’s surrender, and the beginning of the occupation. V-J Day marked victory over Japan, while V-E Day had marked victory in Europe earlier that year.