25th Annual Student Research Conference
A Tangled Web: The Detrimental Effect of Communism on the U.S. Policy in China, the Foreign Service, and John Paton Davies, Jr. from the 1940s-1950s
Caitlin L. McGrath
Dr. Jeff Gall, Faculty Mentor
The China Hands, a group of Foreign Service Officers serving in China during the 1940s, had a duty to create a working relationship between China and the United States in order to prevent a Communist takeover of China. One of these officers, John Paton Davies, Jr., created a controversial but workable policy that involved supporting the Communists. This paper focuses on the political crucifixion of John Paton Davies, Jr., one of these China Hands, by President Harry S. Trumans Loyalty Review Board, by Ambassador Patrick J. Hurley, and by Joseph McCarthy and the consequential censoring and internal destruction of this group of Foreign Service Officers. Within this paper, the true reasoning for Daviess firing is explored, with emphasis placed on the attitude of the United States Government toward Communism, as found in the John Paton Davies, Jr. Papers from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library.
Keywords: History, Foreign Policy, China, Harry S. Truman
Topic(s):History
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 311-1
Location: VH 1324
Time: 1:00