Allen W. Dulles was born on April 7, 1893, in Watertown, New York, one of five children brought up in a family dedicated to public service. Dulles was related to two secretaries of state, John W. Foster and Robert Lansing. Allen’s brother John Foster later became secretary of state in the administration of Dwight Eisenhower. Dulles earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from Princeton (in 1914 and 1916, respectively) and then entered the diplomatic service, attending peace negotiations at the end of World War I and serving in various posts in European capitals. When he returned to Washington, D.C., in 1922, he began attending law school at George Washington University; he graduated in 1926 and joined the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, where his brother John Foster Dulles was a managing partner.