Vincent, John Carter

Vincent, John Carter

(1900–72) diplomat; born in Seneca, Kans. He started his diplomatic career in 1925, headed the office of Far Eastern Affairs (1945), and was ambassador to Switzerland (1947). In 1952–53 he was named as the "number two" State Department employee on Senator Joseph McCarthy's list of suspected Communists. A board of inquiry found "reasonable doubt" as to his loyalty to the U.S.A. and he retired. He was never officially rehabilitated, but later commentators described him as an ideal diplomat, public servant, and loyal American.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.