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- [00:00]
Unknown Host
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Chiquis Rivera
Hey, what's up, guys? This is Cheekies from the Cheekies and Chill podcast. And you know, I was thinking buying a home used to be a huge headache. You had to go to a bunch of different places for listings, for pre approval, for financing. It was exhausting and confusing. But now Rocket is putting everything you need in one place. Rocket.com, a single, seamless homeownership platform to help you find, buy, sell, finance, even refinance your home. There's only one destination that has everything you need all under one roof. Every home at1address.rocket.com the new home for all things home ownership.
- [00:41]
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- [01:20]
Unknown McDonald's Advertiser
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- [01:47]
Wilmer Valderrama
This is Wilmer Valderrama from the Dos Amigos podcast. As Latinos, we don't shy away from important conversations that affect our families. So why don't we talk about colon cancer? Especially when catching it early makes it 90% treatable. I'm Wilmer Valderrama, and if you're 45 and older, at average risk, it's time to get screened. Even if you feel fine with color guard, you use it at home and mail it in. No appointments, no prep. Aci de facil. Ask your doctor if the color guard task is right for you. Learn more@colorguard.com preva or call 1-844-870-8870. The color guard test is intended to screen adults 45 and older at average risk of colorectal cancer. Do not use color Guard test if you have had adenomas, have inflammatory bowel disease and certain hereditary syndromes, or a personal or family history of colorectal cancer. The color guard test is not a replacement for a colonoscopy in high risk patients. Cologuard test performs in adults ages 45 to 49 is estimated based on a large clinical study of patients 50 and older. False positives and false negatives can occur prescription only. Let's take care of our health and our community with the color guard test. Big supporter of the Michael Tudor Podcast Network.
- [03:00]
Soledad O'Brien
So this is the love letter that JFK wrote to Mary Meyer in October of 1963. Why don't you leave suburbia for once? Come and see me either here or at the Cape next week or in Boston the 19th. I know it's unwise, irrational, and that you may hate it. On the other hand, you may not. And I will love it. You say that it's good for me not to get what I want after all of these years. You should give me a more loving answer than that. Why don't you just say yes? One of my producers, Shara, was in the studio with me.
- [03:38]
Howie Mandel
Oh, my gosh. I'm kind of getting goosebumps.
- [03:41]
Soledad O'Brien
It's pretty amazing to sort of see him just in the throes of this love affair. Now, just take a moment. Think the author of this letter is the President of the United States, not your average American wishing he could have something that was just out of reach. Nope. The man writing this letter was the most powerful man on earth. But the tone of this letter doesn't sound like that at all. The desperation in this letter is not. Is not what I would have imagined the President of the United States to be writing or thinking or doing. JFK spent years keeping tabs on Mary. It's clear he was smitten. And the fact that Mary had clearly so much of a hold over him. He says, you should give me a more loving answer. All these years later, like, all these years later, why do you not love me? Right? I mean, there's a certain not just desperation that it's unclear if she's gonna say yes or no. And kind of sounds like she's gonna say no. Being refused, told no, that's likely not something the President's used to. He's begging, he's groveling. He's literally, if you know, if you will, I will love it. And it might Be irrational, can't control himself. And this is 1963. This is not long before the President was assassinated. Yeah. Mary wasn't like his other lovers. Even if official business was discussed, the President wouldn't ask Mary to leave.
- [05:22]
Howie Mandel
He valued her opinion. It was said that she was almost part of the Oval Office furniture.
- [05:29]
Soledad O'Brien
But of course, it wasn't just that. And he clearly, obviously was lusting for her, but also intellectually wanted her in the room when these conversations were happening. That love letter, clearly lust. Right. He's not begging her to come to Cape Cod so they can sit down and have a thoughtful conversation about the Cuban Missile crisis. And perhaps the most unique part for Kennedy, she's in the power position and he is not. By this point, he wasn't really trying to keep this affair under wraps.
- [06:05]
Howie Mandel
JFK wrote this letter on official White House stationery.
- [06:12]
Soledad O'Brien
Still, this love letter is a mystery of sorts because Mary never got it. I mean, he didn't send it on to her. His receptionist, his assistant held on to the letter. He must have decided he didn't want it delivered. A But he didn't destroy it. He didn't burn it. Instead, Kennedy's personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, held onto it.
- [06:35]
Howie Mandel
His secretary never sent it off. What was going on?
- [06:39]
Soledad O'Brien
This letter, laced with desire, seemingly disappeared for reasons unknown. Then, 53 years after Kennedy wrote it, it surfaced again. Evelyn Lincoln kept it until she died. Then it turned up at an auction.
- [06:56]
Howie Mandel
So the thing, too, is that this letter, it was eventually sold for 88, almost $89,000 to an anonymous buyer.
- [07:08]
Soledad O'Brien
Who would buy a love letter? Is it just a collector who cares about history and it's going to go into some big collection, right?
- [07:17]
Howie Mandel
I mean, is it a family member of one of these people involved? We just don't know.
- [07:24]
Soledad O'Brien
The thing I find fascinating, and probably adds to the list of unknown questions or questions we can't answer, is what was the nature of their relationship ultimately? Was it sex? Was it lust? Was it just a real meeting of two clearly bright minds? What was the implication of this affair? Was there some kind of correlation between the fact that church. She had an affair with the President and then would be murdered herself a year later? From Luminary Film Nation Entertainment and Neon Hum Media, this is Murder on the Towpath, a story of two incredible women who never met, but whose lives became forever intertwined by tragedy. I'm your host, Soledad o' Brien. Near the end of her life, Mary was a different woman than she had been while married to Cord. After her divorce, she was finally free to pursue a life that she envisioned for herself. But she was also mourning the death of her son Michael. She needed to heal, and so during this period, she turned again to painting. But now it meant something more to her than it ever had before. Her canvases became her focus. In fact, the year Mary was murdered, three of her paintings were shown in an art exhibit in Washington. A month after she died, her art was part of a show in Buenos Aires. And today, one of her paintings belongs to the Smithsonian. It's called Half light. It's dated 1964, the year she died. It's currently being restored by the Smithsonian, but it's easy to look at online. That's where writer Alina Cohen came across it one day. She was researching female artists who didn't get their due in their lifetimes. Mary's life and her art caught her attention.
- [09:27]
Howie Mandel
I did start to look into her story more, and I was so intrigued.
- [09:32]
Soledad O'Brien
Alina works for an online art gallery called Arts. It's also a resource for collectors. She's written about Mary and Half Light. Here she is describing it.
- [09:44]
Howie Mandel
There's this circle divided into four quadrants. The circle's not quite touching the edges of the painting.
- [09:52]
Soledad O'Brien
Two sets of colors fill the canvas. Moss green, mud brown, situated diagonally from each other. And a kind of gray, blue, and a classic lavender fill in the remaining spaces. The more you stare at it, the more it changes.
- [10:08]
Howie Mandel
When you start to look at the painting a little more, the two darker colors, the brown and the green, seem to be connected, and the blue and the purple seem to be connected, and they're kind of popping out and receding the more you look at it.
- [10:23]
Soledad O'Brien
It's true. As you keep your eyes on the canvas, the colors play off of each other in different ways. One set will come to the foreground while the other falls back, only to return again. It's subtle, confident, and it sticks with you. Right now, Half Light is the only painting of Mary's in the public domain, but two art curators are actively on the hunt for more of Mary's work. Sue Scott is an independent curator, and Helene Posner is the chief curator at the Neuberger Museum of Art at SUNY Purchase. Their mission is to understand Mary's artistic legacy and to make more of her works available to the public. Half Light shows unique promise. They think it shows Mary's own voice. One of the things that's distinctive about it is the shape of a canvas that none of the other artists in.
- [11:20]
Alina Cohen
That period were using.
- [11:21]
Soledad O'Brien
The circular or tondo form that was.
- [11:23]
Howie Mandel
Something that was very much Mary Meyer's.
- [11:25]
Alina Cohen
Contribution and a mode, from what we've.
- [11:27]
Soledad O'Brien
Read, that she used many, many times. Sue and Helene say this painting reflects Mary's artistic style.
- [11:35]
Sue Scott
The colors are also very feminine and these to me are much more, almost have sort of a spiritual sense to them, a peaceful tranquility. I just think it's a fully realized, mature painting that evokes a serenity and almost a spirituality.
- [11:58]
Soledad O'Brien
Shortly after Mary moved to Georgetown, she became part of a group of artists in Washington, D.C. known as the Colorists. If you're wondering what that means, I was too. Basically, these abstract painters play certain colors off one another to create visual impact. Colors aren't used to depict something like a bridge or someone's face. Instead, colors are what matter. Mary wrote of the method. Someone wanting to paint poppies in a wheat field is probably wanting to put that color red against that color brown. So why not head straight for the real thing? For me, Half Light conjures up that mysterious romantic time when the sun has dipped just below the horizon when day bleeds into night.
- [12:45]
Unknown Host
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- [13:44]
Howie Mandel
Your future patients are counting on you and at Ferris State University, you'll be ready for them. Healthcare isn't just a career, it's a calling. At Ferris State, you'll find the perfect path to meaningful community service with hands on clinical experience. From day one, you'll develop essential skills, get real world training and support to unleash your potential and change lives every day. Start your healthcare journey at Ferris Edu Ferris State University. Healing begins here.
- [14:14]
Unknown McDonald's Advertiser
Tucson is a city that stays with you and it's not Just the majestic saguaros and breathtaking mountain views. The let's start with the food. Tucson is home to great Mexican food. It's a UNESCO's City of Gastronomy with 4000 years of gastronomic traditions. The Old Pueblo's culinary roots run deep. History is everywhere here. Stroll through Barrio Viejo's colorful adobe homes, visit the iconic Mission San Javier, or explore downtown where every street has a piece of the past waiting to be discovered. Tucson is a blend of indigenous Mexican, Spanish and American and influences creating this vibrant community full of art and music and celebration. From lively festivals to local galleries and performances, there's always something to experience. Tucson isn't just a destination. It's an opportunity to connect with the land, with the past, and with the people who make it so special. Start planning your adventure today@visittuscon.org Viva.
- [15:20]
Soledad O'Brien
I can't tell you how often I hear, oh, I'm a little ocd. I like things neat. That's not ocd. I'm Howie Mandel and I know this because I have ocd. Actual OCD causes relentless unwanted thoughts. What if I did something terrible and forgot? What if I'm a bad person? Why am I thinking this terrible thing? It makes you question absolutely everything and you'll do anything to feel better. OCD is debilitating, but it's also highly treatable with the right kind of therapy. Regular talk therapy doesn't cut it. OCD needs specialized therapy. That's why I want to tell you about no cd. NO CD is the world's largest virtual therapy provider for ocd. Their licensed therapists provide specialized therapy virtually and it's covered by insurance for over 155 million Americans. If you think you might be struggling with OCD, visit nocd.com to schedule a free 15 minute call and learn more. That's n o c d.com after she was murdered, newspapers noted Mary's artistic talent, said it was clear that she was on the rise. She was an artist moving toward rather.
- [16:31]
Alina Cohen
Than having arrived at her fullest potential.
- [16:35]
Soledad O'Brien
Recently, Mary Meyer was busy preparing for a planned show. And it is in the hope of all who know and appreciate her work that we may still have the opportunity of seeing the results of her efforts through which she will continue to live. Mary was on the verge of embracing her own artistic voice.
- [16:55]
Sue Scott
Well, I think if Half Light is any indication, I think that, that that's exactly right. That that was, she was, she was creating a, a style that was distinctly hers, but it was built on, you know, what was happening you know, critically at the time. And it just seemed like she was on the separate trajectory.
- [17:16]
Soledad O'Brien
Indeed, the month after she died, Half Light was shown in a group show in Argentina. It was Mary's first international exhibit. Of course, nothing is guaranteed for anyone who wants to be an artist, but Mary volunteered at a gallery called Jefferson Place, and that helped her get noticed because it was a hotbed for Washington colorists. And it was through this gallery that Mary met the artist Kenneth Nolan. He was erudite, extremely well schooled in art history. He was just the kind of man, self confident, filled with ideas that Mary was attracted to. Soon they were a couple. Here's Alina Cohen again.
- [17:57]
Howie Mandel
She was painting before she started volunteering at the Jefferson Place Gallery, for sure. But I think that her volunteering there and meeting Noland really catalyzed a change in her work. And after that, she started painting much more seriously, thinking about art in new terms and devoting herself to her studio in a new way.
- [18:19]
Soledad O'Brien
This new devotion to her creative life would also land Mary in the heart of Bohemian Washington, DC. In the early 60s, there was a jazz club in Washington D.C. called Charlie Bird's Showboat Lounge. It was on 18th street in northwest D.C. bird was legendary. He was one of the first musicians to blend bossa nova and jazz. He recorded with Stan Getz on the second floor of his lounge. Late at night on a Saturday, you might walk upstairs to find a table full of jazz musicians and artists. And Mary Meyer and Ken Noland were often there too, drinks in hand and deep in discussion. After a set, the jazz musicians themselves would join Ken, Mary and other colorist painters, talk art theory, the music scene. Some might have joints on them ready to smoke later, or maybe they'd smoke one already. This was the heart of Bohemian Washington D.C. and Mary Pinchot Meyer was right in the middle of it. Now, for anybody who knows Washington, dc, using the word bohemian to describe it might make you laugh. Here's Lance Morrow.
- [19:34]
Sue Scott
Washington D.C. has always been one of the squarest places on the planet. And so when you're talking about bohemians in Washington, you're not exactly talking about Greenwich Village.
- [19:49]
Soledad O'Brien
And yet if you were a creative person who found yourself there, well, you could do worse.
- [19:55]
Sue Scott
What was happening in Washington D.C. in the 50s was very fertile and very, very exciting. And all of the artists at the time were really trying to, you know, I'm doing quotes here, find a way out of Jackson Pollock, who was so prevalent in the contemporary art world. And they were trying to figure out, like, what comes next. So many of These artists in Washington were exploring that as well.
- [20:21]
Soledad O'Brien
Here's Nina Burley, author of A Very Private Woman.
- [20:25]
Alina Cohen
It's the social set of Georgetown in the 50s. They're very international, cosmopolitan people. They're also very provincial. I mean, they're from a small group of upper crust people in New York and Boston. But they had put in a lot of time in Europe.
- [20:45]
Soledad O'Brien
And these independent thinkers Mary ran with didn't necessarily condemn divorce.
- [20:51]
Alina Cohen
It was Georgetown and they had, you know, pretty relaxed ideas about moral behavior. I don't think that there was a whole lot of disapproval, let's say, in her crowd. In fact, I mean, some of them were women, were openly married to gay men. I mean, it was a very sophisticated place.
- [21:16]
Soledad O'Brien
So Mary, she was just in the right place to claim a life of her own on her own terms. Here's historian Alexis Koh.
- [21:26]
Alexis Koh
I think Mary started out her adult life doing what was expected of her. She married, she was a part of society. She was a perfect, you know, 1950s homemaker.
- [21:39]
Soledad O'Brien
Then suddenly her world changed.
- [21:42]
Alexis Koh
She was running with a fairly fast crowd of artists. She was painting. She was living a really full life in a way that women were not really allowed to at that time.
- [21:57]
Soledad O'Brien
Yet Mary was also deep in mourning over the death of her son Michael. So she was still healing in the aftermath. Here's author Ron Rosenbaum.
- [22:07]
Sue Scott
I think any mother would be changed by the sudden death of a son. It was an important landmark in her life and perhaps increased her sense of.
- [22:18]
Soledad O'Brien
Seriousness and her desire to make something of her art. And so with her artist friend Anne Truitt, she set up her studio on M Street near the towpath.
- [22:28]
Sue Scott
She had everything at her disposal of the elite of the elite, and she rejected it. To become an artist in a garage.
- [22:39]
Soledad O'Brien
It was an exhilarating time for her. Here's Nina.
- [22:44]
Alina Cohen
She could hook up with artists if she wanted to and she could, you know, make herself known in an artistic community and, and pursue creativity, which a lot of them did. You know, her friends were into, you know, other painters. Cicely Angleton wanted to write poetry. Anne Truitt was actually a very well known artist, her friend. So they had the leisure with which to pursue activities that were not conventional.
- [23:16]
Soledad O'Brien
Mary and Ann would go on art field trips together to New York, seek out exhibits of the envelope pushing abstract painters of the day. Mary supported Anne's art and Anne was Mary's biggest champion. But there is no escaping the fact that this is still the late 1950s.
- [23:35]
Alina Cohen
Mary and her friends weren't conventional, but they weren't Feminists. They weren't living like feminists.
- [23:42]
Soledad O'Brien
It simply wasn't that time men were in charge and could be awfully dismissive of women.
- [23:49]
Howie Mandel
Even Mary's boyfriend, Kenneth Nolan, didn't take her painting seriously. There were inequities built into the relationship. From him, she probably did learn really important ideas about art and what critics were discussing at the time. But I'm not sure she ever progressed in his mind, more than a muse for his work work.
- [24:13]
Soledad O'Brien
In fact, Ken never saw her paintings. That was striking to Nina Burley.
- [24:19]
Alina Cohen
Yeah, it's incredible that she never showed a painting to Kenneth Nolan, who was one of the leaders of the Colorfield school in which she was so influenced by in her work. It's sad, you know, Again, it goes back to the position of post war women in America and everywhere.
- [24:39]
Soledad O'Brien
Or as sue and Helene say, women like Mary, despite their talents, were more or less afterthoughts compared to their male counterparts.
- [24:49]
Sue Scott
What we believe is a lot of times women have been sidelined because maybe they're considered just somebody's girlfriend, somebody's wife, somebody's student, or somebody's assistant.
- [25:01]
Soledad O'Brien
Mary was very much her own person and yet very much confined to the norms of the time. She was both a mother of three who went to Vassar and an artist divorcee in Bohemian D.C. like Dovey, she had a vision of what she wanted her life to look like. But all women at the time struggled to pursue what they wanted. Of course, Mary was no exception. And Dovey's hurdles were monumental. During segregation and after, there were barriers. For both women, it meant that despite their dreams, others would only think so much of them. Mary was sure of herself, but even she assumed her boyfriend didn't want to see her art. Here's Nina Burley again.
- [25:44]
Alina Cohen
So, you know, she had a certain image of herself probably as somebody who could do these things and was very confident. The confidence that comes with having been born to a lot of money and that kind of confidence, you know, it goes a long way, but it does not go long enough to take your dabblings and then put them in front of a Kenneth Noland and say, look, I'm an artist. I'm as good as you are.
- [26:12]
Soledad O'Brien
Noland wouldn't see a single painting of Mary's until after she was murdered. Can you believe the man she considered her partner didn't even bother to look at her life's work? But it wasn't through art alone that Mary began her journey of self exploration. During her new life in Georgetown, Mary had started experimenting with lsd, a hallucinogenic drug that alters thoughts and feelings. But it wasn't all that surprising given the Times. In the 1950s, professionals with day jobs took LSD. Artists dropped acid beat authors did too. Behind closed doors, the CIA was also starting to run experiments with these drugs. They thought they could be used to control minds, assist in operations that benefited American interests. Eventually, Mary herself sought out someone at the forefront of psychedelic research in America. Timothy Leary, himself, a psychologist who popularized psychedelic drugs. Starting in 1960, Leary and a colleague started the Harvard Psilocybin project. The group worked with a synthetic version of the drug found in mushrooms, which was also legal at the time.
- [27:33]
Alina Cohen
She started to hang out with Timothy Leary, at least if you believe his account, more than once. She dropped acid with him.
- [27:44]
Soledad O'Brien
Meanwhile, in the background of it all, the geopolitics of the time were something of a mess.
- [27:51]
Alexis Koh
So we have the Cold War, we have communist states.
- [27:55]
Sue Scott
We intend to convince the communists that.
- [28:00]
Soledad O'Brien
We cannot be defeated.
- [28:02]
Alexis Koh
We have Vietnam.
- [28:04]
Soledad O'Brien
And by the time Kennedy was elected into office, there was also the attempted coup known as the Bay of Pigs.
- [28:11]
Sue Scott
The assault has begun on the dictatorship of Fidel Castro.
- [28:15]
Soledad O'Brien
When the CIA went into Cuba to try to oust Fidel Castro.
- [28:20]
Alexis Koh
It's a, we can say a fairly tense time in the United States, particularly when it comes to just the race with, with Cuba, the race with, with Russia. You know, we have the Apollo space program and we also have tensions nationally, we have the civil rights movement, so there's a lot going on.
- [28:40]
Soledad O'Brien
With so much tension in the world, not to mention the threat of nuclear annihilation, Mary believed people in power could benefit from the mind altering perspective of psilocybin. Studies have shown that hallucinogens help people dissociate from the self, removing their egos and self interests from their person. In 2009, NYU conducted a study using psilocybin on terminally ill cancer patients. They wanted to see if drugs similar to LSD could allow people to confront very poor bleak scenarios with acceptance. Imagine the power of facing a terminal illness calmly. It's a compelling thought. Mary thought LSD could be put to use on the men who ruled the world, helping them remove their ego and personal interests from their executive decisions. She hoped it could get them to choose world peace over war. But when Mary began her own experimenting, she had no idea that she would soon be in the arms of the most powerful man in the world. By 1959, Ken Noland and Mary's affair was winding down. One evening they ended up at a cocktail party at the Bradley's house in Georgetown. In attendance was a young senator from Massachusetts, jfk. That evening, he announced to his friends he'd run for president. Early the next year, Ken noticed Mary paying close attention to Kennedy that night. It was the kind of interest he remembered Mary showing him at the beginning of their own affair. Only now it was directed toward someone new.
- [30:28]
Chiquis Rivera
What up guys? This is Chiquis from Cheekies and Cho podcast and this goes to all you renters out there. Here's something from Rocket Mortgage you're gonna want to hear. Now. Anyone who has ever rented before knows that feeling you get every month. Your hard earned cash gone. It's like throwing money away. Trust me, I know. Even more frustrating is the knowledge that every dollar you spent on rent is a dollar you could have put toward your future. It can even make you feel like you'll never be able to save enough to afford a home of your own. And that's what makes what Rocket Mortgage is doing here so special. They're helping you put your monthly rent payments towards home ownership. It's called Rent Rewards. And for the first time, you can save up to $5,000 off the cost of your home just by paying rent. Only at Rocket Mortgage. So if this sounds like something that could make a difference in your life, call 800 for Rocket or visit Rocket.com today to learn more about rent rewards. That's 800 for Rocket or Rocket.com Rocket.
- [31:25]
Unknown Host
Mortgage LLC equal housing lender licensed in all 50 states. NMLS consumeraccess.org 3030.
- [31:30]
Howie Mandel
Your future patients are counting on you and at Ferris State University, you'll be ready for them. Healthcare is just a career. It's a calling. At Ferris State, you'll find the perfect path to meaningful community service with hands on clinical experience. From day one, you'll develop essential skills, get real world training and support to unleash your potential and change lives every day. Start your healthcare journey at Ferris. Edu Ferris State University. Healing begins here.
- [32:00]
Unknown McDonald's Advertiser
Tucson is a city that stays with you. And it's not just the majestic saguaros and breathtaking mountain views. Let's start with the food. Tucson is home to great Mexican food. It's a UNESCO's City of Gastronomy. With 4000 years of gastronomic traditions, the Old Pueblo's culinary roots run deep. History is everywhere here. Stroll through Barrio Viejo's colorful adobe homes, visit the iconic Mission San Javier, or explore downtown where every street has a piece of the past waiting to be discovered. Tucson is a blend of indigenous Mexican Spanish and American influences, creating this vibrant community full of art and music and celebration. From lively festivals to local galleries and performances, there's always something to experience. Tucson isn't just a destination, it's an opportunity to connect with the land, with the past, and with the people who make it so special. Start planning your adventure today@visittucson.org Viva what.
- [33:05]
Unknown Host
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- [34:05]
Soledad O'Brien
Most affairs don't become part of history. Only lovers know the full story of their time together and the wider world is none the wiser unless you happen to have an affair with the President of the United States.
- [34:21]
Alina Cohen
The logistics of the affair are recorded for posterity in the White House logs that are kept in the Kennedy Library. They are handwritten and you can see the secretary saying Mrs. Meyer is here or Mrs. Meyer arrived at a certain hour of a certain day.
- [34:46]
Soledad O'Brien
Neither Kennedy nor Mary bothered to conceal her presence. Their meetings were almost flagrantly in the open. Here's Ron again.
- [34:56]
Sue Scott
JFK was remarkably careless about privacy with women because it was a totally different media age where half the reporters in Washington knew about this but nobody would print it.
- [35:13]
Soledad O'Brien
He did make some attempt to hide their meetings from his wife.
- [35:17]
Alina Cohen
You can take those logs and you can put those dates next to what is known about Jackie's whereabouts. Also refer to recorded elsewhere. And you can see that when Jackie was out of town, she was in the White House.
- [35:34]
Soledad O'Brien
Officially, Mary Meyer was logged into the White House on solo visits 15 times between the fall of 1961 and late summer 1963. But in reality, she was at the White House much more than that. Often she'd show up at as a plus one of one of Kennedy's friends. Sometimes Mary would attend private dinners with just a few close friends and advisors. Other times she'd be invited to official state affairs dances or dinners for important White House guests. All in all, Mary spent about 40 evenings at the White House during Kennedy's short presidency. And given that he was the most powerful and probably busiest man on earth, JFK was definitely going out of his way to prioritize Mary Meyer. For years, Mary's relationship with the President was an open secret among close friends.
- [36:34]
Alina Cohen
I think it was pretty well known during the affair by the people who hung around with Kennedy and people who went to parties in Georgetown and the people who knew her.
- [36:46]
Soledad O'Brien
But the 60s were a time when discretion was king. Reporters who knew didn't write about it. Here's Ron again.
- [36:54]
Sue Scott
It was a big secret in Washington in the sense that it was never splashed in the papers. There were those who were in on the secret and were, long after her death, were at last willing to talk about it, not in complete detail, but in some detail.
- [37:16]
Soledad O'Brien
It was simply a very different time.
- [37:20]
Alina Cohen
They are the opposite of our generation and the younger generation of sharing and oversharing on social media. They knew things and they kept their mouths shut. And that's why you have Ben Bradlee knowing that Mary Meyer was having an affair with the President. And he was a major, major journalist in Washington and he never reported on.
- [37:45]
Soledad O'Brien
Wasn't until 1976 that James Truitt first broke the story. He was married to Mary's close friend and artist, Ann Truitt. He dished in print about the affair.
- [37:57]
Sue Scott
It finally came out years after she died in the National Enquirer.
- [38:03]
Soledad O'Brien
But not everybody was happy about that. Mary's close friends, they didn't want any of it out in the open.
- [38:10]
Sue Scott
Ben Bradlee, when he was editor of the Washington Post, wrote a book, a memoir about his days with JFK and never mentioned Mary Meyer, although he did write a few paragraphs that indicated that JFK had an interest in Mary Meyer and some of Mary's friends thought this was a betrayal of trust because he was giving away a secret that they knew.
- [38:41]
Soledad O'Brien
But Truitt said in his National Enquirer story that he had taken notes of the affair as it was happening. The broad strokes of their relationship came to light from White House logs and Truitt's timeline. Before his presidency, Kennedy was accustomed to spending time with a certain group of Georgetown friends. But when he became president, Georgetown house parties became logistically a little more difficult. So Kennedy began inviting his friends to the White House. And so, in one sense, having Mary Meyer around didn't look odd at all. But by the time of the White House's first official dinner in March 1961, who was seated directly at the side of the president? Mary Pinchot Meyer. But it's not clear if their sexual relationship had begun at this point. And then October 3, 1961, Mary's first solo visit to the White House. She signed in at 7:40pm and had a quote, unquote, appointment with Evelyn Lincoln, the personal secretary who held on to Kennedy's love letter to Mary for all those years. It's pretty clear Mary was not showing up for a nighttime tea with Evelyn. But according to Truitt's notes, Mary rebuffed Kennedy's initial advances until, well, she didn't. By January 1962, the affair seemed to be in full motion, and the two struck up something of a routine. Kennedy would have a car pick Mary up at home in GEORGETOWN Sometime after 7pm Most nights, Mary entered the White House around 7:30. And then sometimes she'd dine with Kennedy and his friends. Sometimes she'd dine with him alone. But it wasn't just in intimate settings that they'd spend time together in the White House. JFK wouldn't ask Mary to leave the room, even during more official conversations. That's what a Kennedy aide shockingly told Nina Burley. He'd often see Mary in the Oval Office. Meyer Feldman, the aide, said that by the end of 1962, Mary was so often in the White House that she had become, quote, unquote, almost part of the furniture. Part of the furniture. What an unusually specific way to show Mary was a fixture. The Oval Office. Eventually, Mary and Kennedy would retire to his private residence. And then around midnight, the President would call a car and Mary Meyer would return again to Georgetown. Now, we know we're not breaking any news here. When it comes to the fact that Kennedy cheated on his wife, Kennedy was, as has been very well documented, an insatiable womanizer. Here's Alexis Ko.
- [41:42]
Alexis Koh
I think he was happy to pursue whatever was in front of him. There's this rumor that he said, you know, I can't, like, survive a day without a bit of strange. And so he just needed another woman at all times.
- [41:56]
Soledad O'Brien
That said, Mary Meyer didn't seem like just Another affair for jfk. As so many said of Mary throughout her life, she stood out from the crowd simply for being herself.
- [42:08]
Sue Scott
I think JFK had an eye out for any beautiful woman, but he realized that there was something different about her.
- [42:17]
Soledad O'Brien
JFK's lasting fixation on Mary came from something else.
- [42:22]
Alina Cohen
I mean, she got the joke. She was from his social class. You know, she was in the club and so there was that. And she was very beautiful and had, you know, radiant seductiveness that he noticed. And he was a superstar, like two beautiful people with lots of, you know, one with lots of power. She was on the in and that he liked that.
- [42:52]
Soledad O'Brien
Toward the beginning of their affair, JFK had evidently thought enough about what life would look like with Mary Meyer that he commented about it to his friend Ben Bradlee.
- [43:04]
Sue Scott
I think what Bradley said was that at some party or other, he and JFK were standing together gazing at the women at the party, and Mary was one of them. And JFK said something about she would be difficult to live with.
- [43:23]
Soledad O'Brien
That's Ron Rosenbaum.
- [43:25]
Sue Scott
In other words, she was an independent woman and he knew that. And he couldn't just treat her as some sex object.
- [43:37]
Soledad O'Brien
We will never know the full nature of their relationship. But what's clear is that Mary put JFK in the unusual position of not having all the power. Here's Alexis Ko.
- [43:48]
Alexis Koh
You know, it's sort of easy to say, oh, he liked blondes, or he was a womanizer. They went to school, school together, they were the same age. It's not like she's, you know, a 22 year old woman who's, you know, coming through, who's caught his eye. She also exerted quite a bit of control over him.
- [44:05]
Soledad O'Brien
Mary wasn't simply being pursued, she was also choosing him. So much so that as November 22nd approached, according to one account, Mary's hold on the President seemed to be growing only stronger. In fact, Mary was often with Kennedy during some of the most fraught geopolitical moments of his presidency. According to records, Mary logged into the White House most frequently when nuclear testing had resumed and relations with Russia were especially tense. And then came the Cuban Missile crisis.
- [44:40]
Sue Scott
Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of striking Washington D.C. the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States.
- [44:54]
Soledad O'Brien
Kennedy wanted Mary by his side as he navigated the possible destruction of the country in October 1962. And at home, on the especially tense night of the Mississippi race riots, for.
- [45:08]
Sue Scott
Any man or group of men, by force or threat of Force could long deny the commands of our court and our Constitution, then no law would stand free from.
- [45:20]
Soledad O'Brien
After Kennedy addressed the nation, there was Mary by his side again. And then, according to James Truitt's account, there was one night when Mary had a very different kind of interaction with the President. She got him high. According to Truitt, Mary brought several joints to the White House.
- [45:42]
Sue Scott
There are stories that she turned him on to grass in the White House bedroom and he offered to get her cocaine. You know, these could be totally apocryphal and have nothing to do with what emotional relationship they had.
- [46:01]
Soledad O'Brien
According to Truitt's notes, Kennedy smoked three joints, closed his eyes, then wondered aloud out about a worst case scenario. He's quoted as saying, suppose the Russians did something now. Yep, Presidents have a sense of humor too, when they're high. Kennedy also mentioned the White House was slated to host a conference on narcotics just weeks later. In one account, Jim Mangleton said the President did take one low dose of LSD with Mary. You remember Angleton. He was married friend and a CIA spy. Mary was also friends with Angleton's wife, Cicely. Angleton claimed that after Mary and the President took the drug, they had sex. You might be asking, how the hell would Jim know about that? Well, he got it from Mary's diary. Later this season, we'll tell you how he got a hold of it. Was Kennedy open to the mind altering effects of psychedelics? Maybe you're thinking this is the 60s. Don't be naive. Everybody did drugs. Or maybe you're thinking, so you're saying this woman, Mary Meyer, was trying to coerce the President of the United States into world peace using psychedelics. Well, the truth is, we aren't sure what happened. There are very limited accounts of their time in private when taking drugs like this would have been possible. But it was during Kennedy's time in the White House that Mary was making visits to see Timothy Leary, when she was supposed to have told Leary that she wanted men in power to consider peace and thought LSD could help them get there. Whether or not Kennedy did take any psychedelics with Mary, he was already on a new path toward the end of his presidency.
- [47:49]
Sue Scott
I have therefore chosen this time and place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth too rarely perceived. And that is the most important topic on earth. Peace.
- [48:04]
Soledad O'Brien
In June 1963, Kennedy made his famous peace speech at American University. By then, Kennedy was fighting for a world free of war. Mary had once thought that Cord would Fight for would be Kennedy, not Cord, who would give the world once again hope for peace. By then, Kennedy had fired the ruthless CIA director Allen Dulles. Kennedy and Mary stood in direct opposition to Mary's ex husband Cord, and the institution he worked for. As you can imagine, there are very few pictures of Mary and Kennedy in public together. There is, however, a trip that was very much on the record. In September 1963, Mary's family donated the Pinchot family estate in Milford to the United States government. Mary's grandfather had been a great ecologist. In fact, he was Teddy Roosevelt's chief forester. Land preservation was a Pinchot family legacy. And now Mary's family was giving away the land where she had spent summers collecting butterflies and playing tennis. To mark the event, Kennedy traveled with Mary and her sister Tony to Gray Towers, where a ceremony for the donation was held for the beginning, a dedication.
- [49:27]
Sue Scott
Ceremony at Milford, Pennsylvania. The place is Gray Towers, the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot.
- [49:38]
Soledad O'Brien
A video immortalized the day. The President is tanned, in a dark blue suit, standing in front of a podium resurrected at the Pinchot estate. Just behind him stands Mary, sunglasses on, hair coiffed, dyed blonde scarf around her neck.
- [49:54]
Sue Scott
But I have been a forester all the time and shall be to my dying day. He was more than a forester.
- [50:02]
Soledad O'Brien
As Kennedy addresses the crowd of hundreds who came to see the President in Milford that day, you can see on Mary's face a subtle smile. It's a smile that knows a lot more than it gives away. November 22, 1963. A month after Kennedy wrote Mary his love letter, a flash from Dallas. Two priests who were with President Kennedy say he is dead. This is the latest information we have. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. The traumatic event set in motion yet another period of grieving and introspection for Mary.
- [50:44]
Alexis Koh
Her sister said she didn't really react when he was assassinated. Whether that's to imply that he didn't actually mean anything to her, that she was guarding herself, that she somehow knew that this might happen, we don't know.
- [50:56]
Soledad O'Brien
Mary continued her daily walks to clear her head and stoke her creativity. In the months following JFK's assassination, she reported feeling as if she were being followed. Mary's friends later told Nina Burley that someone had broken into her Georgetown home. She painted her final painting. Even though the painting was called Half Light, that also meant that the other half was darkness. The Warren Commission came out. Mary analyzed it zealous. And as the days ticked by, Mary inched closer and closer to her own final day. Next time on Murder on the Towpath, we learn Ray's fate. Even though Henry Wiggins had placed Ray at the scene, Dovey was about to poke a major hole in his testimony. And you you can't place him on the scene.
- [51:54]
Howie Mandel
You can't convict him.
- [51:55]
Soledad O'Brien
But that didn't mean that Dovey had the case in the bag despite weak circumstantial evidence. Would Ray pay for this crime with his life? Live out his days in prison? Or, miracle of miracles, would he go free from luminary? Murder on the Towpath is a production of Film Nation Entertainment in association with Neon Hum Media. Our executive producers are me, Soledad o' Brien, Alyssa Martino, Milan Papelka and Jonathan Hirsch. Lead producer is Shara Morris. Associate producers are Natalie Ryn and Lucy Licht. Senior editor is Catherine St. Louis. Music and composition by Andrew Epen Salt design and mixing by Scott Somerville Fact checking by Laura Bullard Special thanks to Allison Cohen, Sarah Vacchiano, Rose Arce, Kate Mishkin, Tanner Robbins and Michaela Salella.
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- [55:14]
Unknown Host
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