Which U.S. president declared September 2, 1945, the official Victory over Japan Day?

President Harry S. Truman declared September 2, 1945, the official Victory over Japan Day.

Truman made the designation after Japan signed the formal surrender documents aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The ceremony took place on September 2 and brought the Pacific war to its official conclusion. In his public statements, Truman distinguished the formal signing from the earlier announcement of Japan’s surrender.

Japan’s acceptance had been announced by Hirohito on August 15, a date also observed as V-J Day in several countries. The difference reflects the gap between a political announcement and the formal legal act of signing the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.

Truman had become president in April 1945 after Franklin D. Roosevelt died. He therefore made the final wartime presidential announcements concerning Germany’s defeat and Japan’s surrender.