Chester Nimitz signed Japan's surrender for the United States after Douglas MacArthur signed for the Allied powers. Nimitz signed aboard USS Missouri on 2 September 1945.
Nimitz was Fleet Admiral and Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas. His forces had directed major naval operations across the Pacific, including the Central Pacific advance toward Japan.
The signing order distinguished MacArthur's multinational command role from Nimitz's national role. MacArthur accepted and signed on behalf of the Allied powers, while Nimitz then signed as the representative of the United States.
William Halsey was the commander of the U.S. Third Fleet, which had operated in the waters around Japan, but he did not sign the surrender document. Ernest King was Chief of Naval Operations during much of the war, and Raymond Spruance was another major Pacific commander; neither represented the United States at the ceremony.