Charles E. Allen - Comments About Charles Allen

Comments About Charles Allen

Mark Perry offers this commentary about Allen based on information from colleagues:

• "An eccentric workaholic who often picked fights with superiors"
• "A tall graying man given to sober suits and precise grammar."
• "More than just a little weird; it was hard to know just where he was coming from."
• "At times during his career Allen seemed almost out of control as he often spent all night at his office and made unreasonable demands on his secretarial staff."
• "Allen was known for his offbeat views, and his detractors said he had a huge ego."
• "A 'brilliant man' with 'a yen for controversy'"

From an August 2004 U.S. News & World Report article:

"…more of a legend than a man around the CIA. 'If you don't think you're getting your money's worth out of the federal government,' says an admirer, 'you should meet Charlie Allen.' A workaholic, Allen had served as an intelligence officer for 40 years and earned a reputation as a plain-spoken professional who regularly bucked the bureaucracy…"

Duane Clarridge remarked in his memoir:

"He (Allen) was a bit of a maverick; bright absolutely dedicated, on occasion short on diplomacy, and a workaholic."