Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Nimitz (1885-1966), Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet (1941-1945), was promoted to the newly created Five-Star rank of Admiral of the Fleet in December 1944. Assuming command immediately after Pearl Harbor, he led the successful naval, air and land campaign across the Pacific to assure Japan's defeat. Nimitz served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1945-1947. John J. Mulvaney, who died in 1964, was an Alameda real estate develop and financier who merged his Encinal Bank with the Bank of Italy to form the Bank of America. Guests of this prominent Republican at his Alameda, California home included Earl Warren, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan (but also Franklin Roosevelt), as well as Admiral Nimitz and his wife. He had become friends with Nimitz in 1917, when he persuaded the navy to turn a piece of swampland into the Alameda Naval Air Station.