Who signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender for the United States after Douglas MacArthur?

Chester W. Nimitz signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender for the United States after Douglas MacArthur.

MacArthur signed first as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Nimitz then signed as the United States representative, reflecting his role as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas during the war.

Nimitz had directed major American naval operations across the Pacific, including the campaigns that shifted the strategic balance against Japan. His signature placed the United States directly among the Allied governments formally accepting Japan’s capitulation.

William Halsey Jr. is a frequent mix-up because he commanded the U.S. Third Fleet in the final Pacific operations and was closely associated with the fleet assembled near Japan. Halsey did not sign the surrender instrument.