John Foster Dulles

John Foster Dulles was one of the most admired and criticized Secretaries of State in the entire history of that great office. And yet, whatever may be the ultimate verdict of history, even his detractors admitted that he faced an international situation far more difficult than the eras of any of his predecessors. For the first time in the history of the Republic, all of the nation's territory lay open to a devastating attack by a foreign power. Dulles, unlike his predecessors, no longer could pass his insoluble diplomatic problems to the War Department. If Dulles displayed an acute sensitivity to religious issues it was understandable in so threatening an era. Biographer Louis L. Gerson received exceptional access to unpublished materials relating to the life of the late Secretary, and interviewed key participants in international affairs of the 1950s. His study illuminates many of the dark corners of that decade's foreign relations.--Adapted from dust jacket.