Mary's Mosaic: Mary Pinchot Meyer & John F. Kennedy And Their Vision For World Peace (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
I didn't like the first two chapters of this book very much. It seemed the author was making a lot of assertions that weren't proven by his end notes. But as I continued reading, I saw that those chapters were just to get the reader interested, and that he was going to go back and provide the background to his assertions. In fact, if I have any complaint about this book, it would be the organization. In the end, he is still doubling back on things he discussed earlier, reminding the reader of events he's already detailed. And yes, it's a really complicated story -- much more complicated than any fictional spy story and with many more characters -- so maybe this is the best that could be done with this material. So, what IS this story about? Basically, Mary Pinchot Meyer was a paramour of President Kennedy for about two years before he was killed. Apparently, he was in love with her and wanted to marry her after he was out of the White House. The book describes Meyer's life-long interest in world peace, beginning early in her life when she and now ex-hubby and CIA man, were involved of the United World Federalist Movement. I don't think Janney makes an adequate case that she was still a peace advocate when she was killed, but that actually isn't critical to his argument; it has been argued elsewhere, with ample documentary support that Janney reiterates, that Kennedy himself had become an advocate of peace and of reconciliation with the Soviet Union as well as Castro and that virtually no one else in a position of power in the government supported this position, and that this was likely why he was killed. Janney's sources make the case that Meyer was killed not because of her own belief in peace but because she had figured out how the assassination took place and was beginning to talk. Pinchot Meyer was killed less than a year later, and a man who happened to be nearby was framed for the killing but a good defense attorney got him off. There really wasn't much evidence and the murder weapon was never found. The really important chapter in the book puts together all of the evidence from this killing. A CIA operative who much later told someone he indeed committed the crime. From this and other evidence, Janney lays out the whole modus operandi of the CIA "elimination section." (They call it something else -- I forget the terminology.)While Janney's book doesn't discuss the Kennedy assassination in detail -- there are plenty of books that do, of course -- it is clear that the Kennedy assassination team could have, and probably did, use the same type of plan as for Meyer's murder -- only more elaborately set up in the President's case. What is chilling is to see how casually these people in the secret government talk of offing anyone who might be inconvenient -- i.e., might talk about what they do. Meyer was a CIA wife for many years and knew all the "right" people, so, although she probably had no inside information about the Kennedy assassination, she would have known that the Warren Report was rubbish. Janney does not, in my opinion, make an airtight case. There is a lot of speculation here -- only to be expected given that this murder took place 50 years ago -- but his conclusion is backed up with all of the evidence Janney could put his hands on. It is clear that we are getting a clearer and clearer picture of how our secret government operates. And I cannot help but wonder if the reason the government has been so intent on silencing Edward Snowden is not because of what he has released about government spying but because there is suspicion that he might also have documents laying out what is actually done with all the information gathered. Its use, as Janney makes clear, is rarely benign. It will be 50 years this November since JFK was killed, and the truth about the assassination has been trickling out ever since, despite the CIA's giant coverup and murder of many people who knew too much. I've read a lot of books about those events; this is one of the most credible and most shocking. Mary Pinchot was a beautiful, captivating, and idealistic Vassar grad who strongly believed in and yearned for world peace. She became a journalist after her graduation. She met Cord Meyer, a brilliant Ivy-League vet who had lost an eye in WWII and who shared her ideals. Both were assigned to cover the opening ceremonies of the U.N., and they married quietly before they left for San Francisco. He was disillusioned by the conference and predicted accurately that the U.N. would accomplish little. He hoped for an academic appointment, but didn't get it, and instead allowed Allen Dulles to recruit him into the newly formed CIA. Cord and Mary had three sons, Quentin, Michael, and Mark. Michael and the author were best friends as boys until Michael was killed after being struck by a car at age 9. The author's father, Wistar Janney, was also, like Cord Meyer, high-level CIA. Although Wistar never told his son CIA secrets, there were moments from his childhood that allowed him to connect the dots and put the pieces of the events described here into a shocking whole. He had admired and adored Mary Meyer and was horrified when he realized his own father had been involved in her murder. Cord Meyer's idealism had not survived his work with the CIA. Mary was disillusioned and angry, and divorced him. He was furious, and his love for her turned to hate. By all accounts, he turned bitter and sometimes violently lost his temper. Mary was one of JFK's women, but not just that. Their affair lasted for at least two years, and according to Kenny O'Donnell, one of JFK's closest friends and a member of the "Irish Mafia," he planned, after leaving office, to divorce Jackie and marry Mary. A number of people were concerned about the influence she had over the president. She had experimented with LSD, and asked Tim Leary to help her become a guide for others taking LSD trips. These included 8 of her closest women friends, several of them CIA wives, and eventually JFK himself. One of her women friends, probably Katherine Graham (publisher of the Washington Post) let the secret out. Mary's sister, Tony, was married to Ben Bradlee, Managing Editor of the Washington Post. Janney alleges, with considerable documentation, that Bradlee was closely connected with the CIA top brass, especially the Counterintelligence section, led by James Jesus Angleton. After Mary put the pieces together regarding JFK's death, she angrily confronted her ex-husband and threatened to go public with the information she had. She was killed not long afterward while taking her daily walk along the Canal Towpath by the Potomac, in a perfectly professional CIA hit, complete with patsy. The patsy was tried and acquitted, thanks to excellent legal work by his attorney, but the case is still considered solved.There is much more to this story, and it is told in great detail, complete with more than 150 pages of appendices, notes, bibliography and index. Writing it was an agonizing personal journey for Peter Janney, who is a clinical psychologist. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know what really happened to JFK.
What do You think about Mary's Mosaic: Mary Pinchot Meyer & John F. Kennedy And Their Vision For World Peace (2012)?
Intriguing. I am not sure I accept all his conclusions but he does make some compelling discoveries.
—anita
Facinating read abot the JFK assassination, and the woman who knew too much!
—Kaitlynn
very informative and detailed...but not an easy read.
—sophie33
