ALLEN AND JOHN FOSTER: THE DULLES BROTHERS IN GOVERNMENT
The family dynamic between Allen and John Foster within the Eisenhower administration is of critical importance to understanding their policy impacts and strategy. The Dulles brothers seem to have shared an outlook on American global responsibility rooted especially in post-war anti-Communism, most likely forged in decades of similar experiences and conversation with each other. John Foster was “an ideologue and a crusader” with “strident anti-Communist rhetoric,”[1] while Allen expressed similar sentiments, speaking of the possibility of “communist infection” in Central America.[2] In many ways, they were two sides of the same coin: John Foster was the Secretary of State, while Allen “[described] the CIA as ‘the State Department for unfriendly countries.’”[3]
This created a stifling dynamic within the government, as “when they were making a decision about carrying out some earth-shattering operation, they never had to consult anyone else… They served as a reverberating echo chamber for their own shared certainties.”[4] This offers a partial explanation for the contrasts between intelligence indicators and government policy in cases such as Guatemala and Iran; the Dulles brothers saw the complicated nuances of Third World nationalism as little more than “tools of the Kremlin.”[5]
Allen was clearly fond of this brother. At the end of his time as DCI, Allen pushed the new President Kennedy to name Washington, D.C.’s newest airport after his brother.[6] The internal CIA history of Allen Dulles confirms this, writing that the brothers were “close” with “ties of personal affection.”[7] In their professional capacity, the report notes that they “took pains to act quite formally and correctly,”[8] which can be confirmed by examining documents from the CIA archives of exchanges between the brothers.[9] The perception of influence between the two may have been as important as any actual influence itself.[10] |
John Foster Dulles and President Eisenhower. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
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Ultimately, a complete picture of the role their relationship played on their policy influence remains cloudy. “[T]here are few concerted efforts to analyse [Allen] Dulles’s position in internal policy matters,” perhaps due to a lack of access to archival sources.[11] Furthermore, the reliance of Allen – and his brother John Foster – on informal meetings and connections to “the establishment” complicates understandings significantly, and historians lack a clear and detailed understanding of their relationship.[12] Accessing information about, for example, Allen Dulles’s private lunches at the State Department,[13] may simply be impossible if no records were kept, now that the participants are deceased.
[1] George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 657
[2] Bevan Sewell, "The Pragmatic Face of the Covert Idealist: The Role of Allen Dulles in US Policy Discussions on Latin America, 1953–61," Intelligence and National Security 26, no. 2 (2011): 279.
[3] Julia R. Azari, "The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War," The Forum 12, no. 1 (2014): 205. Book review.
[4] NPR Staff, Meet 'The Brothers' Who Shaped U.S. Policy, Inside And Out, October 16, 2013, https://www.npr.org/2013/10/16/234752747/meet-the-brothers-who-shaped-u-s-policy-inside-and-out (accessed December 2, 2020).
[5] Ibid.
[6] Stephen Kinzer, The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret Cold War (New York: Times Books, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2013), 1.
[7] Wayne G. Jackson, Allen Welsh Dulles as Director of Central Intelligence, 26 February 1953 - 29 November 1961, Volume 1: Allen Dulles, the Man, CIA Historical Staff, Central Intelligence Agency (Langley: Central Intelligence Agency, 1973), 50.
[8] Ibid.
[9] E.g. “LETTER TO HONORABLE JOHN FOSTER DULLES FROM ALLEN W. DULLES” (https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp80b01676r004200060010-1) and “MEMO TO HONORABLE ALLEN W. DULLES FROM JOHNFOSTER DULLES” from the Freedom of Information Act Online Reading Room, CIA Library, https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/, (accessed December 2, 2020).
[10] Jackson, Allen Dulles, the Man, 51.
[11] Sewell, "The Pragmatic Face of the Covert Idealist,” 273.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Grose, Gentleman Spy, 386.
[1] George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 657
[2] Bevan Sewell, "The Pragmatic Face of the Covert Idealist: The Role of Allen Dulles in US Policy Discussions on Latin America, 1953–61," Intelligence and National Security 26, no. 2 (2011): 279.
[3] Julia R. Azari, "The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War," The Forum 12, no. 1 (2014): 205. Book review.
[4] NPR Staff, Meet 'The Brothers' Who Shaped U.S. Policy, Inside And Out, October 16, 2013, https://www.npr.org/2013/10/16/234752747/meet-the-brothers-who-shaped-u-s-policy-inside-and-out (accessed December 2, 2020).
[5] Ibid.
[6] Stephen Kinzer, The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret Cold War (New York: Times Books, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2013), 1.
[7] Wayne G. Jackson, Allen Welsh Dulles as Director of Central Intelligence, 26 February 1953 - 29 November 1961, Volume 1: Allen Dulles, the Man, CIA Historical Staff, Central Intelligence Agency (Langley: Central Intelligence Agency, 1973), 50.
[8] Ibid.
[9] E.g. “LETTER TO HONORABLE JOHN FOSTER DULLES FROM ALLEN W. DULLES” (https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp80b01676r004200060010-1) and “MEMO TO HONORABLE ALLEN W. DULLES FROM JOHNFOSTER DULLES” from the Freedom of Information Act Online Reading Room, CIA Library, https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/, (accessed December 2, 2020).
[10] Jackson, Allen Dulles, the Man, 51.
[11] Sewell, "The Pragmatic Face of the Covert Idealist,” 273.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Grose, Gentleman Spy, 386.