 Born in Seneca, Kansas, Vincent graduated from Mercer University in 1923 and was appointed Foreign Service Officer the same year.He then served in Changsha, Hankou, Shantou, Beijing, Shenyang, Nanjing, and Dalian before he became Counsellor to the US Embassy in Chongqing in 1942.Vincent was among the China Hands who wanted to gather intelligence from and provide material to the Communist armies, then part of the Allied coalition in the war against Japan and ostensibly under Chiang Kai-shek's command.