After Imre Nagy became the prime minister, he appointed Vasárhelyi, who was a friend with his daughter, as the government press secretary.
After the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Nagy was asked back into government and reappointed Vasárhelyi as press secretary.
[3][1] The failure of the revolt saw the reformers, including Nagy and Vasárhelyi, take refuge at the Yugoslav embassy.
The government of János Kádár began taking a softer approach, and Vasárhelyi found work at the Hungarian Academy of Science’s Institute of Literary Studies and as a script editor.
He eventually became the Soros Foundation’s representative in Hungary and helped set up educational exchanges.