 In 1953, he returned to Japan, serving as Minister and deputy chief of mission in Tokyo until 1956.In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Parsons as United States Ambassador to Laos, head of the U.S. embassy in Vientiane, with Parsons presenting his credentials on October 12, 1956.As ambassador to the Kingdom of Laos in the midst of the Laotian Civil War, Parsons is identified with the Eisenhower administration's support of the Royal Lao Government against the Pathet Lao.