David Talbot: The Rise of America's Secret Government

Wed, Oct 21 2015 - 6:30pm
David Talbot, Founder, Salon.com; Author, The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government
Barry Eisler, Former CIA Directorate of Operations; Creator, John Rain series – Moderator

Author and journalist David Talbot presents an explosive portrait of Allen Welsh Dulles, the man he says transformed the CIA into the most powerful and secretive colossus in Washington. He tells one of America’s great hidden stories: the part played in the United States’ rise to world dominance in the early 20th century by the guile of Dulles, the longest-serving director of the CIA.

Drawing on revelatory new materials, including newly discovered U.S. government documents, U.S. and European intelligence sources, personal correspondence and journals, and exclusive interviews with the children of prominent CIA officials, Talbot argues that Dulles manipulated and subverted presidents and the law to further his personal interests and those of the wealthy elite whom he held as friends.

Talbot will discuss his exposé of American power in the story of the rise of the national security state.