The Secret Surrender

7 April 1893 – 29 January 1969

Allen Welsh Dulles was born and raised in Watertown, New York, one of five children born to Presbyterian minister Allen Macy Dulles and his wife Edith. His maternal grandfather, John W. Foster, was Secretary of State for President Harrison. His uncle (by marriage), Robert Lansing, was also a Secretary of State. As a child, Dulles spent time with these men during the summers. In 1916, he graduated from Princeton University and entered the diplomatic service. In 1920 he married Clover Todd. While working as a diplomat in Europe, he started gathering intelligence information, and he worked as an intelligence officer during World War I. After the war, he served five years as chief of the Near…