“President Dwight Eisenhower, named Allen Dulles CIA Director. Dulles’ forte was overthrowing governments and he was quite good at it. With coups in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) under his belt, Dulles was riding high in the late Fifties and moved Cuba to the top of his to-do list.”

Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern

Allen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat and lawyer who became the fifth, but first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he oversaw the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état, Operation Ajax, the Lockheed U-2 aircraft program and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

During the Kennedy Administration, Dulles faced increasing criticism. In autumn 1961, following the Bay of Pigs incident and Algiers putsch against Charles de Gaulle, Dulles and his entourage, including Deputy Director for Plans Richard M. Bissell Jr. and Deputy Director Charles Cabell, were forced to resign.

On November 28, 1961, Kennedy presented Dulles with the National Security Medal at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

The next day, November 29, the White House released a resignation letter signed by Dulles.

JFK’s Remarks at the Retirement of CIA’s Allen Dulles (11/28/61)

REFERENCES

Allen Dulles — Wikipedia

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On This Day — Allen Dulles Becomes First Civilian Director of Central Intelligence (February 26 1953)