Allen W. Dulles

Allen Welsh Dulles (/ˈdʌlɪs/ DUL-iss; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an American lawyer who was the first civilian director of central intelligence (DCI), and its longest serving director. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he oversaw numerous activities, such as the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, the Project MKUltra mind control program, and the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. As a result of the failed invasion of Cuba, Dulles was forced to resign by President John F. Kennedy and was replaced with John McCone for the remainder of the Kennedy administration.

Following his resignation, Dulles was appointed to the Warren Commission tasked with investigating President Kennedy's assassination. His inclusion on the panel, despite having been dismissed by Kennedy and formerly serving as head of the CIA, has prompted sustained discussion among historians and commentators regarding potential conflicts of interest. While the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that the CIA as an institution was not involved in the assassination, debate persists over the extent of internal agency knowledge, as well as Dulles’s influence on the commission’s scope and findings.