John D. Wilsey - God’s Cold Warrior: The Life and Faith of John Foster Dulles

I owe a shallow knowledge of the Dulles name to having grown up in the 1950s when one would often hear mention of the Dulles family in news reports. When I came to study theology with John Foster Dulless youngest son, Avery Dulles, SJ, my interest was piqued. The then Father, and later Cardinal, Dulles was discreet in speaking of his father when I would ask, alluding only to his advocacy of a religiously grounded public consensus. Thus, I was enriched in reading Gods Cold Warrior not only to see the depth of John Foster Dulless thinking and religious commitment but also to deepen my appreciation of the Dulles intellectual dynasty.

Robert A. Sirico

president, Acton Institute

At a time when many associate Christian nationalism with evangelical Protestantism and regard the religious right as a threat to liberal democracy in the United States, John Wilseys astute and thorough biography of John Foster Dulles is a good reminder of what faith-based politics looks like. A lifelong liberal Presbyterian who played a major role in the United States Cold War strategies as secretary of state in the Eisenhower administration, Dulles had the rare combination of tolerant religion and militant nationalism. This book helpfully shows the access to power and significant influence that mainline Protestantism had on the United States policy as the nation rose to a global hegemony.

D. G. Hart

author of Damning Words: The Life and Religious Times of H. L. Mencken

Wilsey illuminates the important role of Christianity in the life and work of John Foster Dulles, the towering and controversial US secretary of state in the Eisenhower administration. The book highlights how Dulless progressive faith guided his ecumenical church service in the 1940s and his work as Americas leading diplomat in the 1950s. While some scholars view Dulles as an inflexible moralist who intensified the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Wilseys biography offers a helpful corrective, providing a sympathetic account of this influential public servant.

Mark R. Amstutz

Wheaton College

John Foster Dulles looms large in the pantheon of Cold War foreign policy leaders, yet the apparent space between his inner life and outer presentation have long rendered him an enigmatic figure. Wilseys warm and deeply researched volume offers an intimate portrait of Dulles, capturing the man in all of his contradictions and complexity. Blending spiritual and intellectual biography, Wilsey reveals much about Dulless internal world, teasing out the roots of his pragmatism in matters of faith as well as diplomacy, and highlighting the relationship Dulles saw between moral laws and the natural world. With this work, Wilsey has added tremendously to our understanding of the ideas and values that shaped Dulless worldview and thus US politics and foreign policy.

Lauren Turek

Trinity University

LIBRARY OF RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHY

Mark A. Noll, Kathryn Gin Lum, and Heath W. Carter, series editors

Long overlooked by historians, religion has emerged in recent years as a key factor in understanding the past. From politics to popular culture, from social struggles to the rhythms of family life, religion shapes every story. Religious biographies open a window to the sometimes surprising influence of religion on the lives of influential people and the worlds they inhabited.

The Library of Religious Biography is a series that brings to life important figures in United States history and beyond. Grounded in careful research, these volumes link the lives of their subjects to the broader cultural contexts and religious issues that surrounded them. The authors are respected historians and recognized authorities in the historical period in which their subject lived and worked.

Marked by careful scholarship yet free of academic jargon, the books in this series are well-written narratives meant to be read and enjoyed as well as studied.

Titles include:

Duty and Destiny: The Life and Faith ofWinston Churchill by Gary Scott Smith

A Short Life ofJonathan Edwards by George M. Marsden

One Soul at a Time: The Story ofBilly Graham by Grant Wacker

A Christian and a Democrat: A Religious Life ofFranklin D. Roosevelt by John F. Woolverton with James D. Bratt

George Whitefield: Evangelist for God and Empire by Peter Y. Choi

For a complete list of published volumes, see the back of this volume.

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.eerdmans.com

2021 John D. Wilsey

All rights reserved

Published 2021

Printed in the United States of America

27 26 25 24 23 22 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

ISBN 978-0-8028-7572-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wilsey, John D., author.

Title: Gods cold warrior : the life and faith of John Foster Dulles / John D. Wilsey.

Other titles: Life and faith of John Foster Dulles

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2021. | Series: Library of religious biography | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: A religious biography of John Foster Dulles, focusing on how his faith commitments shaped his evolving views on Americas role in the worldProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020033818 | ISBN 9780802875723 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Dulles, John Foster, 18881959. | Dulles, John Foster, 18881959Religion. | PresbyteriansWashington (D.C.)Biography. | StatesmenUnited StatesBiography. | United StatesForeign relations19451953. | United StatesForeign relations19531961. | Foster family. | Washington (D.C.)Biography.

Classification: LCC E748.D868 W55 2021 | DDC 973.921092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033818

To Mandy, Caroline, and Sally

Amor Vincit Omnia

John Foster Dulles, 1958

T his treatment of John Foster Dulles will explore his worldview as informed by his religion. Dulles was one of the most significant American diplomats in the early years of the Cold War, but this book is not a diplomatic history. He was also a principal leader in the Federal Council of Churches during the 1940s, but this book is not an institutional history. This book seeks to identify and trace intellectual, moral, and religious patterns as they appeared in various familial, ecclesiastical, and diplomatic contexts throughout the life of a lawyer, churchman, and diplomat. I have also tried to focus this study on features of Dulless life that have been less comprehensively considered by previous biographers. Consequently, I have intentionally avoided exploring some areas in Fosters career that have been thoroughly covered by historians and biographers since the 1960s.

A cknowledgments sections are likely the most overlooked in a book like this. That is a shame, because no author can endeavor to make sense of anothers life without help. I am no exception, and I have been blessed beyond measure to have enjoyed the assistance and companionship of many people along the path to describing John Foster Dulles as a man with a dynamic faith.