What Led to the Decline of the Dulles Brothers' Influence on US Foreign Policy?

[Astronuc]

I listened to NPR's Freshair program last night. The host, Terry Gross, interviewed author Stephen Kinzer about his new book, The Brothers, which is about John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, two figures who determined US foreign policy during the 1950s and 1960s.

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/16/234752747/meet-the-brothers-who-shaped-u-s-policy-inside-and-out

In 1953, for the first and only time in history, two brothers were appointed to head the overt and covert sides of American foreign policy. President Dwight Eisenhower appointed John Foster Dulles secretary of state, and Allen Dulles director of the CIA.

Journalist Stephen Kinzer says the Dulles brothers shaped America's standoff with the Soviet Union, led the U.S. into war in Vietnam, and helped topple governments they thought unfriendly to American interests in Guatemala, Iran, the Congo and Indonesia. In his new book, The Brothers, Kinzer says the Dulles' actions "helped set off some of the world's most profound long-term crises."

John Dulles died in 1959. President Kennedy replaced Allen Dulles after the covert operation he recommended to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba ended disastrously in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

Kinzer tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that the Dulles' shared background and ideology played out in their policy decisions: . . .

I find the influence of their ideology and world view fascinating and disturbing, and the fact that no one checked their influence on US foreign policy. And it appears that the US has paid a heavy price for their policies and actions.

These two men stand in stark contrast to John Foster Dulles's son, Avery Robert Dulles, who became a cardinal in the Catholic Church.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Dulles
http://www.fordham.edu/dulles/
Biography of Cardinal Dulles:
Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ: A Model Theologian, 1918-2008

 

[jedishrfu]

Its really something when small things cascade into really large crises.

I wonder how many other times has this happened in the past like during the rise of Rome or the empires of China and how these have shaped current events.

The current debt crisis reminds me of the Tiberius Gracchus and how he as Tribune shutdown the Roman government by vetoing attempts to open the markets and banks each day until the other tribunes accepted his land reform bill. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Gracchus). After he was killed his brother took over the fight and was more skillful in getting it passed.

BBC did a great series on key events in Roman history, one of which was on Tiberius Grachhus:

 

[Dotini]

I find the influence of their ideology and world view fascinating and disturbing, and the fact that no one checked their influence on US foreign policy. And it appears that the US has paid a heavy price for their policies and actions.

It was commonly joked that while Ike was elected President in November, 1952, he assumed the duties of office in May of '59, following the death of John Foster Dulles. :)