Allen Dulles: superb master spy

Spokesman Magazine, July, 2006 by Dennis Casey

Whether in an open democracy or in a dictatorship like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, intelligence was and remains the first ingredient of the policies that guide and influence both diplomacy and war.

For those who collected, analyzed and distributed intelligence during the 20th century, few remained in key positions for long. The abrupt changes at the end of World War II followed by a host of developments during the Cold War tended to see frequent changes at the top in American intelligence.

Allen Dulles represented an exception. For more than 50 years, he was a constant presence and an influence upon those who worked to create a system to generate information that would serve the needs of decision makers in the United States.

Allen Dulles was born April 23, 1893 into a family that was neither wealthy or especially advantaged. The Dulles family called Watertown, New York home. Here Allen learned the values and dedication to achievement that would so accurately describe his career in later years.

After graduating from Princeton University, young Dulles rather quickly received his first experience in the international arena. He entered the world of politics near the end of World War I. Dulles left the United States for his assignment in Vienna June 1916.

Hard work brought him two promotions, and by October, he proudly wrote to his parents that he truly had reached a financial plateau with an annual salary of $1,500 and was able to live in one of the world's most intriguing spots. War would soon change the young diplomat's duties and outlook on life.

By early 1917, efforts by President Wilson to bring an end to the conflict in Europe had not yielded any positive results. On the heels of Germany's decision to renew unrestricted submarine warfare and the infamous Zimmermann telegram, which promised an alliance with Mexico against the United States, President Wilson signed the declaration of war in April 1917. Dulles found his duties changed abruptly. For much of 1917, the young American spy worked to create communication routes for the American Embassy so sensitive documents didn't have to travel through Berlin before being forwarded to the American State Department.

He established Bern, Switzerland, as the location from which America could carry out intelligence gathering, collection and other intelligence-connected activities. Here, Dulles learned his new craft from British and Swiss intelligence officers and a host of others including exiled Czech leader Jan Masaryk.

While in Bern, Dulles found he loved the intelligence discipline. The long hours, risks, hurried meetings and feelings of importance, all contributed to his rapid maturation as a first-rate field agent. The end of the war promised to bring all of this to an end, and Dulles began to contemplate what would come next in his life.

A few weeks after the Armistice was signed, Dulles was called to Versailles to participate in drawing the treaty. The State Department attached him to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace.

He soon found himself dealing with Colonel Ralph Van Deman who set up the peace commission's internal security system and Herbert Yardley who ran the cryptologic section. Dulles shuttled between Van Deman and others to ensure the information provided President Wilson was accurate, timely and complete. The work he did directly for the president brought him recognition as an intelligence professional.

Unlike most American diplomats who returned to the United States after the signing of the Versailles treaty, Dulles stayed in Berlin. He watched first-hand the first post-war years when inflation ruined the Germany economy and caused the political system to collapse into anarchy. He also watched with dismay the rise of Adolf Hitler in Bavaria.

Between the wars, Dulles survived assignments in Constantinople and one in Washington D.C.

Dulles decided to attend George Washington Law School. For several years, he carefully juggled his work schedule at the State Department with his classes and completed the law school curriculum.

Once out of law school, Dulles left the State Department and joined a law firm in New York. To maintain his interests in what was going on in the world, Dulles joined the Council on Foreign Affairs. His involvement soon brought him an invitation to represent the United States in Geneva in 1931 at a world conference on disarmament.

Dulles began by gaining publicity for disarmament by going on radio shows. In a short period of time, he became a radio personality as he popularized his views for listeners. It was not long before he warned his corporation to close their doors in Germany and transfer or liquidate their investments. Both Dulles and his acquaintance William "Wild Bill" Donovan feared a possible war with Germany.

As early as 1937, Donovan, concerned that intelligence had slipped from sight as America focused on domestic issues, began drafting plans for a national-level spy service. By the late 1930s, Dulles also became interested when Donovan began to campaign for such an organization.