Customer Reviews

John Foster Dulles: Piety, Pragmatism, and Power in U.S. Foreign Policy (Biographies in American Foreign Policy)

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This is a somewhat dry recounting of the foreign policy of John Foster Dulles, who was Eisenhower's Secretary of State. I did not know what drove Eisenhower's foreign policy, but Immerman's book showed it was a combination of Eisenhower's practicability and Dulles's theory. Dulles had been influencing foreign policy since his "Uncle Bert" was Wilson's Secretary of State. Dulles was a smart man, but I think his theory on the Soviets at the time bear an reexamination. What Dulles sought was a rollback, but there was little chance of that with the Soviets.

There are few books about Dulles, and this answered some of my questions about the man and his policy. As such, this book is focused to the academic audience, so I would not advise it for the general reading population.