Allen Welsh Dulles (1893–1969) was an American diplomat and intelligence officer who was director (1953–61) of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA.) He was the brother of John Foster Dulles, who served as secretary of state (1953–59;) their uncle Robert Lansing was U.S. secretary of state (1915–20.)
Born in Washington, D.C., into a family with diplomatic links, Dulles was educated at Princeton. After working in Allahabad, India, Dulles entered the U.S. diplomatic service, serving at Vienna, Berne, Paris, Berlin, and Istanbul by 1920. Dulles was chief of Division of Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State (1922-26,) and worked for a law firm with powerful international links (1926–42.)
During World War II, Dulles served in Europe with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (1942–45) and played an essential part in arranging the surrender of Italian forces without Russian knowledge, as described in his The Secret Surrender (1966.)
When President Harry Truman formed the CIA, Dulles became deputy director (1951) and director (1953.) Under his leadership, the CIA had some success in covert operations, assisting in right-wing coups in Guatemala and Iran, according to U.S. interests.
Dulles resigned following the 1961 Bay of Pigs disaster but served on the Warren Commission investigating President John F. Kennedy’s death.
Dulles’s books on foreign affairs include Germany’s Underground (1947) and The Craft of Intelligence (1963.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Allen Welsh Dulles
One of our greatest assets is that all men aspire to be equal and free. This fact haunts the rulers of the Kremlin today for even they cannot change this law of nature and they know it. It is up to us, not only by example but by positive acts, to make the most of this driving force within mankind.
—Allen Welsh Dulles
Topics: Freedom
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