Politics and Silenced Power of Eleanor Dulles: 'Good Old Girl' and 'Great Woman' History: From New Deal 'Left' to Cold War 'Right'

Some Americans know the name Dulles, particularly if they fly in and out of Washington, DC's smaller airport. Historians of the US know the name because of the controversies surrounding the two brothers, John Foster and Allen. Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, they served as Secretary of State and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Debates abound about their role in the administration, from how much power they wielded over military decisions to their influence on the performance of national and presidential religiosity. Did the two brothers run the administration, particularly after Eisenhower's heart attack and before Foster died? Were Eisenhower and Foster playing good-cop/bad-cop in the international sphere? While Dulles recommended "limited nuclear attacks" to contain communism in Asia, Eisenhower famously delivered his "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations, asking all to lay down arms and use the atom for good. Was the inclusion of "In God We Trust" on paper money, "Under God" in the pledge of allegiance, pre-cabinet meeting prayer, and even Eisenhower's late-life baptism seeded by the Sulles's generational understanding of the inalienable link between the rhetoric of American politics ad religion? With the CIA-led coups in Iran and Guatemala, did the brothers wield military power and dominate the strategy of the president for whom they worked? [From the Author]