Eleanor Lansing Dulles

Eleanor Lansing Dulles (June 1, 1895 – October 30, 1996) was an American writer, professor, and United States government employee. Her background in economics and her familiarity with European affairs enabled her to fill a number of important State Department positions.

Eleanor Lansing Dulles was born on June 1, 1895, in Watertown, New York, one of five siblings born to Allen Macy Dulles and Edith (née Foster) Dulles. Her grandfather, John Watson Foster, served as United States Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison, for eight months. Her mother's sister married Robert Lansing, Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson.

Her eldest brother, John Foster Dulles, was Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Her other brother, Allen Dulles, served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1953 to 1961. She had two sisters, as well, Margaret and Nataline. Her nephew Avery Dulles was a prominent lay Catholic convert, who was made a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Dulles attended Wykeham Rise School in Washington, Connecticut, and attended Bryn Mawr College, graduating with a B.A. in 1917.

After graduating from college, Dulles spent two years working for relief organizations in France. When World War I ended, she continued her schooling. Still convinced European studies were useful to her, in 1921–22 she took courses at the Sorbonne. She returned to the U.S. for a radical change of pace, taking odd jobs in the real world including running a punch press at the American Tube and Stamping Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and working as a payroll clerk for a hair-net company in Long Island City, Queens, New York.

Beginning in 1923, she studied at Radcliffe College and Harvard University, earning her M.A. from the former in 1924 and a doctorate in economics from the latter in 1926, writing her thesis on the French franc. She taught economics at Simmons College during the 1924–1925 academic year. For the next ten years she taught economics at various colleges, including Simmons, Bryn Mawr, and the University of Pennsylvania. As a student and college professor she made frequent trips to Europe to study and conduct research on European financial matters. Though she married in 1932, she always used her maiden name professionally.

In 1933, she argued against the supposed benefits of inflationary government policies in The Dollar, the Franc and Inflation.

In 1936, Dulles entered government service. Her first position was at the Social Security Board, where she studied the economic aspects of financing the Social Security program. In April 1942, she transferred to the Board of Economic Warfare where she spent five months studying various types of international economic matters.