# List of U.S. governors of the Ryukyu Islands

This article lists the U.S. governors of the Ryukyu Islands (Japanese: 琉球諸島, Hepburn: Ryūkyū-shotō, Okinawan: 琉球/ルーチュー Ruuchuu), an archipelago of Japanese islands within Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures, centered on the Okinawa Islands and its main island, Okinawa (the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese home islands).
The list encompasses the period of U.S. occupation, from the start of the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 until the return of the islands to Japanese sovereignty in 1972, in accordance with the 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement.

## Officeholders

Source:
† denotes people who died in office.

### United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands (USMGR, 1945–1950)
#### Military Governors

| No. | Governor | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
| 1 | Buckner, SimonLieutenant general Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (1886–1945) | 1 April 1945 | 18 June 1945 † | 78 days | United States Army |
| – | Geiger, RoyMajor general Roy Geiger (1885–1947) Acting | 18 June 1945 | 23 June 1945 | 5 days | United States Marine Corps |
| – | Stilwell, JosephGeneral Joseph Stilwell (1883–1946) Acting | 23 June 1945 | 31 July 1945 | 38 days | United States Army |
| 2 | Stilwell, JosephGeneral Joseph Stilwell (1883–1946) | 31 July 1945 | 16 October 1945 | 77 days | United States Army |
| N/A | Wallace, FredMajor general Fred Clute Wallace (1887–1959) Commanding General, Island Command Okinawa | June 1945 | 23 April 1946 | 10 months | United States Army |
| 3 | Lawson, LawrenceBrigadier general Lawrence A. Lawson (1897–1951) | 17 October 1945 | 29 December 1945 | 73 days | United States Army |
| 4 | Hodson, FremontBrigadier general Fremont Byron Hodson Sr. (1894–1974) | 30 December 1945 | 26 February 1946 | 58 days | United States Army |
| 5 | Donovan, LeoMajor general Leo Donovan (1895–1950) | 27 February 1946 | 21 May 1946 | 83 days | United States Army |
| 6 | Hayden, FrederickBrigadier general Frederic Lord Hayden (1901–1969) | 24 May 1946 | 11 May 1948 | 1 year, 353 days | United States Army |
| 7 | Eagles, WilliamMajor general William W. Eagles (1895–1988) | 12 May 1948 | 30 September 1949 | 1 year, 141 days | United States Army |
| 8 | Sheetz, JosefMajor general Josef R. Sheetz (1895–1992) | 1 October 1949 | 21 July 1950 | 293 days | United States Army |
| 9 | McClure, RobertMajor general Robert B. McClure (1896–1973) | 28 July 1950 | 6 December 1950 | 131 days | United States Army |
| – | Sherman, HarryBrigadier general Harry B. Sherman (1894–1974) Acting | 6 December 1950 | 9 December 1950 | 3 days | United States Army |
| 10 | Beightler, RobertMajor general Robert S. Beightler (1892–1978) | 9 December 1950 | 15 December 1950 | 6 days | United States Army |

### United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR, 1950–1972)
#### Governors and Commanders-in-Chief, Far East Command (in Tokyo)

| No. | Governor | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
| 1 | MacArthur, DouglasGeneral Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) | 15 December 1950 | 11 April 1951 | 117 days | United States Army |
| 2 | Ridgway, MatthewGeneral Matthew Ridgway (1895–1993) | 11 April 1951 | 12 May 1952 | 1 year, 31 days | United States Army |
| 3 | Clark, MarkGeneral Mark W. Clark (1896–1984) | 12 May 1952 | 7 October 1953 | 1 year, 148 days | United States Army |
| 4 | Hull, JohnGeneral John E. Hull (1895–1975) | 7 October 1953 | 1 April 1955 | 1 year, 176 days | United States Army |
| 5 | Taylor, MaxwellGeneral Maxwell D. Taylor (1901–1987) | 1 April 1955 | 5 June 1955 | 65 days | United States Army |
| 6 | Lemnitzer, LymanGeneral Lyman Lemnitzer (1899–1988) | 5 June 1955 | 30 June 1957 | 2 years, 25 days | United States Army |

#### Deputy governors and Commanding Generals, Ryukyu Islands Command (in Naha)

| No. | Deputy Governor | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
| 1 | Beightler, RobertMajor general Robert S. Beightler (1892–1978) | 15 December 1950 | 10 May 1951 | 146 days | United States Army |
| – | Sherman, HarryBrigadier general Harry B. Sherman (1894–1974) Acting | 10 May 1951 | 7 August 1951 | 89 days | United States Army |
| (1) | Beightler, RobertMajor general Robert S. Beightler (1892–1978) | 8 August 1951 | 16 December 1952 | 1 year, 130 days | United States Army |
| 2 | Lewis, JamesBrigadier general James Malcolm Lewis (1898–1954) | 18 December 1952 | 2 January 1953 | 15 days | United States Army |
| 3 | Ogden, DavidLieutenant general David Ayres Depue Ogden (1897–1969) | 3 January 1953 | 4 March 1955 | 2 years, 60 days | United States Army |
| 4 | Moore, JamesLieutenant general James Edward Moore (1902–1986) | 5 March 1955 | 3 July 1957 | 2 years, 120 days | United States Army |

#### High Commissioners

| No. | High Commissioner | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
| 1 | Moore, JamesLieutenant general James Edward Moore (1902–1986) | 4 July 1957 | 30 April 1958 | 300 days | United States Army |
| 2 | Booth, DonaldLieutenant general Donald Prentice Booth (1902–1993) | 1 May 1958 | 12 February 1961 | 2 years, 287 days | United States Army |
| 3 | Caraway, PaulLieutenant general Paul Caraway (1905–1985) | 16 February 1961 | 31 July 1964 | 3 years, 166 days | United States Army |
| 4 | Watson, AlbertLieutenant general Albert Watson II (1909–1993) | 1 August 1964 | 31 October 1966 | 2 years, 91 days | United States Army |
| 5 | Unger, FerdinandLieutenant general Ferdinand Thomas Unger (1914–1999) | 2 November 1966 | 28 January 1968 | 1 year, 87 days | United States Army |
| 6 | Lampert, JamesLieutenant general James Benjamin Lampert (1914–1978) | 28 January 1968 | 14 May 1972 | 4 years, 107 days | United States Army |

#### Civil Administrators

| No. | Civil Administrator | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | Burger, VonnaVonna F. Burger (1902–1999) | June 1955 | 20 June 1959 | 4 years |
| 2 | Ondrick, JohnJohn G. Ondrick (1906–1974) | 1 July 1959 | May 1962 | 2 years, 10 months |
| 3 | McCune, ShannonShannon Boyd-Bailey McCune (1913–1993) | 18 July 1962 | 8 February 1964 | 1 year, 205 days |
| 4 | Warner, GeraldGerald Warner (1907–1989) | 11 February 1964 | 10 July 1967 | 3 years, 149 days |
| 5 | Carpenter, StanleyStanley Sherman Carpenter (1917–1982) | 15 July 1967 | 15 August 1969 | 2 years, 31 days |
| 6 | Fearey, RobertRobert A. Fearey (1918–2004) | 21 August 1969 | 12 May 1972 | 2 years, 265 days |