Allen W. Dulles

Allen W. Dulles


Allen Dulles, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and the brother of John Foster Dulles, was born in Washington in 1893. His grandfather was John Watson Foster, Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison. His uncle, Robert Lansing, was Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Woodrow Wilson.

After attending Princeton University he joined the diplomatic service and served in Vienna, Berne, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul. In 1922 he was appointed as chief of Division of Near Eastern Affairs.

During the Second World War Dulles served in Europe with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) under William Donovan. The organization that was given the responsible for espionage and for helping the resistance movement in Europe. Dulles was stationed in Switzerland and was able to use his base in this neutral country to obtain important information on Nazi Germany and the Gestapo.

As soon as the Second World War ended President Harry S. Truman ordered the OSS to be closed down. However, it provided a model for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) established in September 1947. Dulles joined the CIA and became director of the organization in 1953.

Under his leadership the CIA had success in assisting right wing coups in Guatemala and Iran. His attempts to oust against Fidel Castro ended in failure and was forced to resign after the Bay of Pigs disaster.

Dulles published The Craft of Intelligence (1963). After the death of John F. Kennedy Dulles served on the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination. Allen Dulles died of cancer in 1969.