Malcolm Rivera
John Foster Dulles was the US Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dulles was a zealous, hard-line secretary of state who left an indelible mark on US foreign policy. He was a strong anti-communist, calling it Godless terrorism, and his tenure was marked by conflict with communist governments worldwide. He was also known for his close cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency and his strong relationship with Eisenhower, which allowed him unprecedented access to the President.
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What You'll Learn
John Foster Dulles' life and career
John Foster Dulles was born in Washington, D.C., on February 25, 1888, and died on May 24, 1959. Dulles was the eldest of five children born to Presbyterian minister Allen Macy Dulles and his wife, Edith (née Foster). Dulles' family had a long history with politics and foreign affairs. His paternal grandfather, John Welsh Dulles, was a Presbyterian missionary in India, and his maternal grandfather, John W. Foster, was Secretary of State under Benjamin Harrison. Dulles' brother, Allen, would later become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Dulles attended Princeton University, graduating as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1908. While at Princeton, Dulles competed on the American Whig-Cliosophic Society debate team and was a member of the University Cottage Club. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and George Washington University Law School. In 1911, Dulles entered into law practice in New York, specializing in international law, and engaged in several quasi-diplomatic missions. He joined the law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell and, by 1927, he was the head of the firm.
Dulles' diplomatic career began in 1907 when, as a 19-year-old, he accompanied his grandfather John Foster, then a private citizen representing China, to the second international peace conference at The Hague. In 1945, Dulles represented the United States at the San Francisco organizational conference for the United Nations and in many subsequent sessions of the United Nations General Assembly. He served as New York's junior senator from 1949 to 1950 and then as a special representative of President Truman, with the rank of ambassador, negotiating the Japanese Peace Treaty of 1951 and the Australian, New Zealand, Philippine, and Japanese Security Treaties of 1950-1951.
On January 21, 1953, Dulles was appointed Secretary of State by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. His tenure was marked by a close working relationship with the President, a focus on anti-communism, and a philosophy of "collective security" which led to numerous mutual defense treaties. Dulles was also an outspoken opponent of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and prevented his government from receiving arms from the United States. He was the first Secretary of State to hold press conferences and be directly accessible to the media.
During his time as Secretary of State, Dulles confronted several foreign policy challenges, including the integration of Europe, the escalation of the crisis in Indochina, and the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. Despite being diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, Dulles returned to work. One of his last directives was the formulation of the Eisenhower Doctrine, which was an expression of his key foreign policy views: containment and international mutual security agreements reinforced by economic aid. Poor health eventually forced Dulles to resign in April 1959, only weeks before his death.
Dulles received several honours during his lifetime and posthumously. He was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1954, and a novelty song about him, "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles", rose to prominence in 1957. In 1959, Dulles was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom and the Sylvanus Thayer Award. Several places in the United States have been named in his honour, including the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and multiple schools.
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Dulles' diplomacy in the Cold War
John Foster Dulles was a prominent figure in the early Cold War era, serving as Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. Dulles played a significant role in shaping US foreign policy during this period, particularly in its confrontation with communist governments worldwide, most notably the Soviet Union.
One of Dulles' notable contributions was his involvement in the Manila conference in 1954, which led to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) pact. This pact united eight nations in Southeast Asia or with interests in the region, in a neutral defence agreement. Dulles recognised the limitations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in defending regions beyond Western Europe, such as the Middle East, the Far East, and the Pacific Islands. To address this, he also played a crucial role in establishing the Baghdad Pact in 1955, later renamed the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). This pact united Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan in a mutual defence organisation.
Additionally, Dulles was influential in finalising the Austrian State Treaty in 1955, which restored Austria's pre-1938 frontiers and prohibited a future union between Germany and Austria. He also contributed to the Trieste agreement in 1954 and supported the French in their war against the Viet Minh in Indochina. However, he rejected the Geneva Accords between France and the communists, opting to support South Vietnam after the 1954 Geneva Conference.
Dulles' tenure as Secretary of State was also marked by his close relationship with President Eisenhower, which granted him unprecedented access to the President. Together, they forged a strong friendship that guided Eisenhower's strategic approach to the Cold War. Dulles played a crucial role in ensuring the credibility of the nuclear threat by portraying the Russian challenge in Manichean terms.
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The Eisenhower Doctrine
John Foster Dulles was appointed Secretary of State by President Eisenhower in 1953. Dulles' tenure as Secretary was marked by conflict with communist governments worldwide, especially the Soviet Union. He was the architect of many major elements of U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War with the Soviet Union after World War II.
The Eisenhower administration believed that the Suez Crisis had created a power vacuum in the Middle East due to the loss of prestige of longtime allies, Britain and France. This allowed Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to spread his pan-Arab policies and form dangerous alliances with Jordan and Syria, opening the region to Soviet influence. The doctrine's intent was to provide the independent Arab regimes with an alternative to Nasser's political control, strengthening them while isolating communist influence through Nasser's isolation.
The first real test of the Eisenhower Doctrine came in 1958 in Lebanon, where the threat was not armed aggression or a direct Soviet incursion. Lebanon's President, Camille Chamoun, requested assistance from the United States to prevent attacks from his political rivals, some of whom had communist leanings and ties to Syria and Egypt. Eisenhower responded by sending U.S. troops to Lebanon to help maintain order and signal to the Soviet Union that the U.S. would act to protect its interests in the Middle East.
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Dulles' relationship with the CIA
Allen Dulles, the younger brother of US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, had a long and varied career in diplomacy and intelligence. Dulles served in various diplomatic posts until 1922 when he was named chief of the State Department's Near Eastern Division. He served as a legal advisor to the delegations on arms limitation at the League of Nations during the late 1920s and early 1930s, meeting with several notable world leaders.
In 1952, Dulles became the deputy director of Central Intelligence, second in the intelligence hierarchy. Following the election of Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, Dulles became the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence. As director, Dulles oversaw the agency's covert operations, which played an important part in the Eisenhower administration's Cold War national security policy known as the "New Look". Notable operations during his tenure include the overthrow of the governments of Mohammad Mosaddeq in Iran in 1953 and Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954, as well as obtaining a copy of Nikita Khrushchev's secret speech denouncing Joseph Stalin in 1956.
However, the agency also faced setbacks, such as the downing of a U-2 intelligence plane over the Soviet Union in 1960. Dulles was reappointed by President John F. Kennedy but resigned in 1961 following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Throughout his career, Dulles was known for his involvement in diplomacy and intelligence, earning him a notable place in the history of US foreign policy and espionage.
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Dulles' views on communism
John Foster Dulles was the US Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dulles' views on communism were informed by his early life and career. He was surrounded by members of the foreign affairs community from an early age, with his uncle, Robert Lansing, serving as Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. Dulles' maternal grandfather, John Watson Foster, also served as Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison.
Dulles' interest in international affairs was developed early in his life due to his family background and connections. He achieved early eminence at the Wall Street law firm, Sullivan and Cromwell, which attracted corporate, banking, and foreign government clients. His work at the firm helped him develop a particular interest in the commercial and financial facets of international relations and a keen attentiveness to the economic imperatives of American foreign policy.
During World War II, Dulles served on the War Trade Board as a lawyer and was involved in Post-War Planning under the auspices of the Federal Council of Churches Commission on a Just and Durable Peace. He developed a vision of a post-war order underpinned by a federal world government, inspired by the ecumenical ideology of liberal Mainline Protestantism and the United States' experiences with federalism.
As Secretary of State, Dulles' tenure was marked by conflict with communist governments worldwide, especially the Soviet Union. He strongly opposed communism, referring to it as "Godless terrorism." Dulles actively discouraged any comment by the State Department about the East German uprisings in June 1953. During the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the State Department's passivity extended to a refusal to engage with Anna Kethly, a Social Democrat and the only Hungarian cabinet minister during the Imre Nagy interregnum who escaped to America.
Dulles recognized the global nature of the challenge posed by communism, seeing it as a worldwide phenomenon rather than solely a tool of the Kremlin or any single nation. He believed that "world Communism is not a tool in the hands of Russia—Russia is a tool in the hands of world Communism." This perspective shaped his approach to foreign policy, as he sought to contain communism through international mutual security agreements and economic aid.
Despite his strong anti-communist stance, some have argued that Dulles' behavior toward the Soviet Union while in office was less aggressive than his rhetoric suggested. His policy decisions and actions in office may have been more moderate than his public image as a staunch anti-communist hardliner.
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Frequently asked questions
John Foster Dulles was the US Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was the architect of many major elements of US foreign policy in the Cold War with the Soviet Union after World War II.
Dulles diplomacy refers to the strong foreign policy stance taken by John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State. This included close cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency, a focus on international mutual security agreements, and a commitment to containing communism. Dulles was also an advocate of the Domino Theory and believed in the need for "massive retaliatory power".
Dulles was known for his zealous and hard-line approach to diplomacy, especially in his dealings with Moscow and Peking. He was also fond of belligerent rhetoric and accusations of deceit, which contrasted with the more reserved Eisenhower. However, when it came to policy, Dulles was less aggressive and more pragmatic. For example, in his handling of the Cold War in Asia, he urged the deployment of US troops in Korea in 1950 but by 1953 was pressuring all sides to sign an armistice.
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