Allen Dulles

Who was Allen Dulles?

Allen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat and lawyer who became the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the CIA during the early Cold War, he oversaw Operation Ajax, the Lockheed U-2 Program and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Following the assassination of John F Kennedy, Dulles was one of the members of the Warren Commission. Between his stints of government service, Dulles was a corporate lawyer and partner at Sullivan & Cromwell. His older brother, John Foster Dulles, was the Secretary of State during the Eisenhower Administration.