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John S. Service
John Stewart Service (August 3, 1909 – February 3, 1999) was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an. Service correctly predicted that the Communists would defeat the Nationalists in a civil war. He and other diplomats were blamed for the "loss" of China in the domestic political turmoil after the 1949 Communist triumph in China. In June 1945, Service was arrested in the Amerasia Affair in 1945. The prosecution sought an indictment for espionage, but a federal grand jury unanimously declined to indict him.
In 1950 U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy launched an attack against Service, which led to investigations of the reports that Service had written while he was stationed in China. Numerous loyalty boards cleared Service, but a final one suggested there was "reasonable doubt" as to his loyalty. That opinion forced Secretary of State Dean Acheson to fire Service. In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered his reinstatement in a unanimous decision and found that Acheson's action had been illegal because "it violated Regulations of the Department of State which were binding on the Secretary."
John Service was born on August 3, 1909, in the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province of China, the son of Grace Josephine (Boggs) and Robert Roy Service, missionaries to Sichuan working for the YMCA. Service spent his childhood in Sichuan Province. By the age of eleven, Service had mastered the local Chinese dialect, and then attended the Shanghai American School for high school. The Service family moved to California, where John graduated from Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California at the age of fifteen. Those who knew him say that he always went by "Jack" and that he never used his middle name.
In the fall of 1927, Service entered Oberlin College. He majored in both art history and economics and was captain of the school's cross-country and track and field teams. After graduation, he took and passed the Foreign Service Exam in 1933. In 1977, Oberlin awarded him an honorary degree.
Service was first assigned to a clerkship position in the American consulate in the capital of Yunnan province, Kunming. Two years later, Service was promoted to Foreign Service Officer and sent to Beijing for language study. In 1938, he was assigned to the Shanghai Consulate General under Clarence E. Gauss. When Gauss was promoted to ambassador, he made Service Third Secretary of the American Embassy at Chungking. As time progressed, Service was promoted to Second Secretary.
During the early war years, Service wrote increasingly-critical reports on the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek. Service characterized the Nationalist government as "fascist," "undemocratic," and "feudal." His reports caught the attention of John P. Davies, a Foreign Service Officer working as a diplomatic attaché to General Joseph Stilwell. In the summer of 1943, Davies arranged to have Service and two others assigned to him as assistants.
Because the invasion of Japan was planned to launch from China, there was great interest in enlisting support from all Chinese factions. The US Army Observation Group, also known as the Dixie Mission, was formed to travel the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party in Yan'an and to establish contact with the Communists as a power in North China. Davies selected Service to represent the State Department, the first to visit the Communist headquarters.
Service arrived in Yan'an on July 22, 1944. There Service met and interviewed top leaders of the Communists like Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Service wrote a series of reports over the next four months that praised Mao and the Chinese Communist Party, and described its leaders as "progressive" and "democratic." He wrote, "The Communists are in China to stay and China's destiny is not Chiang's but theirs." He continued to write that the Nationalists under Chiang were corrupt and incompetent. Service and the other American political officers advocated a policy of relations with the Communists and the Nationalists. They believed a civil war was inevitable and that the Communists would triumph. If the US supported the CPC in a coalition with the nationalists, they felt that the US could steer the Communists out of the Soviet orbit to which the Communists might be pushed if they were antagonized.[citation needed]
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John S. Service
John Stewart Service (August 3, 1909 – February 3, 1999) was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an. Service correctly predicted that the Communists would defeat the Nationalists in a civil war. He and other diplomats were blamed for the "loss" of China in the domestic political turmoil after the 1949 Communist triumph in China. In June 1945, Service was arrested in the Amerasia Affair in 1945. The prosecution sought an indictment for espionage, but a federal grand jury unanimously declined to indict him.
In 1950 U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy launched an attack against Service, which led to investigations of the reports that Service had written while he was stationed in China. Numerous loyalty boards cleared Service, but a final one suggested there was "reasonable doubt" as to his loyalty. That opinion forced Secretary of State Dean Acheson to fire Service. In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered his reinstatement in a unanimous decision and found that Acheson's action had been illegal because "it violated Regulations of the Department of State which were binding on the Secretary."
John Service was born on August 3, 1909, in the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province of China, the son of Grace Josephine (Boggs) and Robert Roy Service, missionaries to Sichuan working for the YMCA. Service spent his childhood in Sichuan Province. By the age of eleven, Service had mastered the local Chinese dialect, and then attended the Shanghai American School for high school. The Service family moved to California, where John graduated from Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California at the age of fifteen. Those who knew him say that he always went by "Jack" and that he never used his middle name.
In the fall of 1927, Service entered Oberlin College. He majored in both art history and economics and was captain of the school's cross-country and track and field teams. After graduation, he took and passed the Foreign Service Exam in 1933. In 1977, Oberlin awarded him an honorary degree.
Service was first assigned to a clerkship position in the American consulate in the capital of Yunnan province, Kunming. Two years later, Service was promoted to Foreign Service Officer and sent to Beijing for language study. In 1938, he was assigned to the Shanghai Consulate General under Clarence E. Gauss. When Gauss was promoted to ambassador, he made Service Third Secretary of the American Embassy at Chungking. As time progressed, Service was promoted to Second Secretary.
During the early war years, Service wrote increasingly-critical reports on the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek. Service characterized the Nationalist government as "fascist," "undemocratic," and "feudal." His reports caught the attention of John P. Davies, a Foreign Service Officer working as a diplomatic attaché to General Joseph Stilwell. In the summer of 1943, Davies arranged to have Service and two others assigned to him as assistants.
Because the invasion of Japan was planned to launch from China, there was great interest in enlisting support from all Chinese factions. The US Army Observation Group, also known as the Dixie Mission, was formed to travel the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party in Yan'an and to establish contact with the Communists as a power in North China. Davies selected Service to represent the State Department, the first to visit the Communist headquarters.
Service arrived in Yan'an on July 22, 1944. There Service met and interviewed top leaders of the Communists like Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Service wrote a series of reports over the next four months that praised Mao and the Chinese Communist Party, and described its leaders as "progressive" and "democratic." He wrote, "The Communists are in China to stay and China's destiny is not Chiang's but theirs." He continued to write that the Nationalists under Chiang were corrupt and incompetent. Service and the other American political officers advocated a policy of relations with the Communists and the Nationalists. They believed a civil war was inevitable and that the Communists would triumph. If the US supported the CPC in a coalition with the nationalists, they felt that the US could steer the Communists out of the Soviet orbit to which the Communists might be pushed if they were antagonized.[citation needed]