page_title: John S. Service
section_title: Return to the State Department
hierarchical_section_title: John S. Service / Post China career / Return to the State Department
caption_attribution_description: English: Sony Centre in Liverpool, England, formerly the Consulate of the United States in Liverpool
context_page_description: John Stewart Service 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 following 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 Service wrote while stationed in China. Secretary of State Dean Acheson fired Service. In 1957 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered his reinstatement in a unanimous decision, finding that Acheson's action had been illegal because "it violated Regulations of the Department of State which were binding on the Secretary." Service was cleared by numerous loyalty boards.
context_section_description: Service returned to active duty in the State Department in 1957. First, he was assigned to State's transportation division.  In 1959, he was given a security clearance after a new internal hearing.  Undersecretary of state for administration Loy Henderson approved the clearance, but noted that Service's "action in the Amerasia case was reprehensible and has brought serious discredit upon the Foreign Service..." Henderson's qualified approval allowed Service to continue his career but prevented him from ever being promoted again. To avoid a Senate fight over a Service confirmation, the State Department decided to assign Service to head the consulate in Liverpool – "but without the associated title or pay grade". Though Service continued to get excellent performance reviews in every position he held, the State Department refused to promote him.  He retired in 1962 and pursued a Master of Arts degree in political science at the University of California, Berkeley.  After earning his degree, Service worked as library curator for the school's Center for Chinese Studies into the 1970s, and then served as editor for the center's publications.
  In 1971, preceding President Richard Nixon's visit to China, Service was one of a handful of Americans invited back to the country, as relations with the U.S. were normalized.  He met with Zhou Enlai again during his visit, and he and his wife Caroline appeared on the cover of Parade Magazine.
caption: Consulate of the United States in Liverpool, one of Service's last posts.
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