Cord Meyer Jr. (; November 10, 1920 – March 13, 2001) was a US

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(CIA) official. After serving in

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as a

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officer in the

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, where he was both injured and decorated, he led the

United World Federalists Citizens for Global Solutions is a grassroots membership organization in the United States. History Five world federalist organizations merged in 1947 to form the United World Federalists, Inc., later renamed World Federalists-USA. In 1975, ...

in the years after the war. Around 1949, he began working for the CIA, where he became a high-level operative, retiring in 1977. He was married to Mary Pinchot from 1945 to 1958. After their divorce Mary Pinchot Meyer was romantically linked to President John F. Kennedy. Her bizarre murder in 1964 remains both unsolved and controversial. After retiring from intelligence work in 1977, Meyer wrote as a columnist and book author.

Early life

Meyer was the son of a wealthy New York family. His father, Cord Meyer Sr., was a diplomat and real estate developer; his mother, Katherine Blair Thaw, belonged to a Pennsylvania family that earned its wealth in the coal business. His grandfather, also called Cord Meyer, was a property developer and a chairman of the

New York State Democratic Committee The New York State Democratic Committee is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New York. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, and it has an office in Albany.St. Paul's School, New Hampshire, and attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, where he was a member of the

Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a Collegiate secret societies in North America, secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Collegiate secret societies in North America#Yale University, Y ...

society, and as a senior was awarded the Alpheus Henry Snow Prize. After graduating in 1942, he joined the

22nd Marine Regiment The 22nd Marine Regiment (22nd Marines) is an inactive United States Marine Corps infantry regiment. The regiment was commissioned in 1942 and was placed under the command of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, and the 6th Marine Division. It t ...

and fought in

; he took part in the Battle of Eniwetok, and in the Battle of Guam as platoon leader, losing his left eye in a grenade attack. He became a first lieutenant and was awarded the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. W ...

. He shared his war experiences, writing for ''

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''. On April 19, 1945, in New York City, he married Mary Eno Pinchot, second daughter of

Amos Pinchot Amos Richards Eno Pinchot (December 6, 1873 – February 18, 1944) was an American lawyer and reformist. He never held public office but managed to exert considerable influence in reformist circles and did much to keep progressive and Georgi ...

. He was an aide of Harold Stassen to the 1945 San Francisco

United Nations Conference on International Organization The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Calif ...

, and in 1947, was elected president of the United World Federalists, the organization he helped to fund.

CIA career

''Circa'' 1949, Meyer started working for the

, joining the organization in 1951 at the invitation of

Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles (, ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he ov ...

. At first he worked at the Office of Policy Coordination under former

OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

man, Frank Wisner. In 1953, Meyer came under attack by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

(FBI), which claimed he was a security risk for having once stood at the same podium of a "notorious leftist", and refused to give him a security clearance. An internal CIA inquiry summarily dismissed the claims. According to Deborah Davis in her 1979 book ''

Katharine the Great ''Katharine the Great: Katharine Graham and The Washington Post'' is an unauthorized biography of Katharine Graham, owner of ''The Washington Post'', authored by journalist Deborah Davis and initially published in 1979. The book was first publi ...

'', Meyer became the "principal operative" of Operation Mockingbird, a plan to secretly influence domestic and foreign media. Meyer befriended

James Angleton James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917 – May 11, 1987) was chief of counterintelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1954 to 1974. His official position within the organization was Associate Deputy Director of Operations for ...

, who in 1954 became the CIA's

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

chief. From 1954 until 1962, Meyer led the agency's

International Organizations Division The Directorate of Operations (DO), less formally called the Clandestine Service,Central Intelligence AgencyCareers & Internships Retrieved: July 9, 2015. is a component of the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was known as the ''Directorate o ...

. Meyer headed the Covert Action Staff of the

Directorate of Plans The Directorate of Operations (DO), less formally called the Clandestine Service,Central Intelligence AgencyCareers & Internships Retrieved: July 9, 2015. is a component of the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was known as the ''Directorate o ...

from 1962. On 18 December 1956, Meyer's nine-year-old son, Michael, was hit by a car and killed. Meyer and his wife

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

divorced in 1958. On 12 October 1964, his former wife Mary was shot dead by an unknown assailant alongside the

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. Her sister and brother-in-law

Benjamin C. Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...

, later the executive editor of ''

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'', caught Angleton breaking into Pinchot's residence. Angleton apparently was looking for Mary Meyer's diary that allegedly contained details of a love affair with John F. Kennedy, the recently assassinated U.S. President. From 1967 to 1973, Meyer was Assistant Deputy Director of Plans under Thomas Karamessines, and from 1973 to 1976 was CIA station chief in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Later years

He retired from the CIA in 1977. Following retirement, Meyer became a syndicated columnist and wrote several books, including an autobiography. Some insiders incorrectly suspected that Cord Meyer was Deep Throat, a key informant in the

Watergate Scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...

.Riebling, Mark, ''Wedge'' (2002) Touchstone Meyer died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include en ...

on March 13, 2001.

Allegations of involvement in the assassination of John F. Kennedy

After the death of former CIA agent and

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continu ...

figure E. Howard Hunt in 2007, Saint John Hunt and David Hunt revealed that their father had recorded several claims about himself and others being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy. In the April 5, 2007 issue of ''

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'', Saint John Hunt detailed how his father drew a diagram of the conspirators: Many presume the "French gunman grassy knoll" were Lucien Sarti and

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and propert ...

. The two sons alleged that their father cut the information from his memoirs, ''"American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond"'', to avoid possible perjury charges. According to Hunt's widow and other children, the two sons took advantage of Hunt's loss of lucidity by coaching and exploiting him for financial gain. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' said they examined the materials offered by the sons to support the story and found them to be "inconclusive".

Books

* ''Peace or Anarchy'', Little, Brown (1948). * ''The Search of Security'', World Government House (January 1, 1947). * ''Facing Reality: From World Federalism to the CIA'', University Press of America; Reprint edition (September 2, 1982).

References

External links

Meyer as Deep Throat suspect
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Cord Jr. 1920 births 2001 deaths Pinchot family Yale University alumni People of the Central Intelligence Agency People associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy American spies American Jews World federalist activists United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Deaths from lymphoma American people with disabilities