Who was president of the United States when Japan surrendered in World War II?

Harry S. Truman was president of the United States when Japan surrendered in World War II.

Truman became president on 12 April 1945 after Franklin D. Roosevelt died. He had been vice president for only a few months and inherited responsibility for the final phase of the war in Europe and the Pacific. Germany surrendered in May, leaving Japan as the remaining Axis power.

During Truman’s presidency, the United States used atomic bombs against Hiroshima on 6 August and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. The Soviet Union also declared war on Japan on 8 August. Japan announced its acceptance of the Allied surrender terms on 15 August, and the formal document was signed on 2 September.

Truman is sometimes confused with Roosevelt in questions about World War II because Roosevelt led the United States for most of the conflict. However, Roosevelt died before Germany’s surrender and before Japan’s surrender. Truman remained president through the postwar occupation and won election in his own right in 1948.