[citation needed] In 1932 Lichine moved back to Paris and accepted a sales position with The New York Herald Tribune.
Lechine attempted to start his own import wine company but failed, and in 1935 worked for the Cork and Bottle retail store in New York, and became a US citizen.
[citation needed] On the outbreak of World War II, Lichine caught the last American ocean liner out of Bordeaux, the S.S.
[citation needed] During the war he served in the United States Army Military Intelligence, in Europe and North Africa andwas given the rank of Major by the commanding headquarters of the Delta Bar Section of the US Military Intelligence.
He was awarded the Order of Leopold, the Belgium Bronze Star and the World War II recognition from the French Legion of Honor.
In July 1948 he was hired by Claude Phillipe of the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel to buy wines in Europe for them.
In 1949 Lechine hired Pierre de Wilde (from Château du Tertre) as his assistant wine buyer.
He moved to Margaux to set up a shipping organization, Lichine & Cie., which became a leading exporter of first quality wines.
In 1959 Lichine was a member of a committee that unsuccessfully launched a bid to revise the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
After calling its Sauvignon blanc by its varietal name rather than labeling it "Graves," Lichine and Schoonmaker found its sales volume to increase several-fold.