Letter JFK Wrote To His Lover One Month Before He Passed Away

Jan 05, 2021 by apost team

With the perfect image that John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie upheld as the first couple, many Americans regard them as the epitome of the ideal, all-American marriage. Yet many forget that the President had several extra-marital affairs –– even while in office. One of those affairs was with the late artist Mary Pinchot Meyer, with whom close friends claim Kennedy had a deep, loving relationship. In 2016, the contents of a letter intended for Meyer were released before its auction, in which Kennedy penned a moving, intimate invitation to meet with the artist. 

According to R.R. Auction, the former President penned the love letter for Mary Pinchot Meyer, an American painter with whom he is thought to have had a secret romantic relationship. The organization estimates the letter to have been written in October 1963, just one month before the President's assassination. It was never sent out but instead retained for unknown reasons by his White House secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, who had become a de-facto archivist to the President, preserving many of his doodles and official documents. In 1995, Lincoln's collection of Kennedy memorabilia –– including the infamous love letter –– was bought by Bob White. 

Following White's death two decades later, his assortment of Kennedy's belongings were put on auction by R.R. Auction in 2016. At the time, the organization advertised that the letter was in "fine" condition, "with the tops of the White House stationery clipped off by Evelyn Lincoln." It sported a faded presidential watermark, only visible under bright light, and featured a short yet romantic message for J.F.K.'s supposed lover, Meyer. While the letter was estimated to sell for around $30,000, it ended up almost tripling that at $88,971. The company also writes that the note "must be one of the last handwritten letters from his presidency."  

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Mary Pinchot Meyer came from a privileged background, being the daughter of Amos Pinchot, a wealthy lawyer, and Ruth Pinchot, a famed journalist. Her uncle, Gifford Pinchot, was a renowned conservationist who had served as a two-time Pennsylvania Governor. She was educated at the prestigious Brearley School and Vassar College and dated William Attwood as a teenager. Meyer first met Kennedy at a high school dance at Chaote, although they would lose touch and reconnect many years later. 

 In 1944, she met her future high-ranking C.I.A. husband, Cord Meyer, then a Marine Corps lieutenant with whom she shared her pacifist views. They wed that following year. 

Meyer and Kennedy became reacquainted as adults in 1954 when the President and his wife moved to Georgetown, and the painter is said to have quickly befriended Jackie Kennedy. Meyer, her husband, and their children would later live between Europe and the U.S.A. before she filed for a divorce in 1958 and relocated to Georgetown. 

Nina Burleigh, an investigative journalist, wrote extensively of Meyer's escapades following the divorce in her book, When History had Secrets. In an excerpt provided by The New York Times, Burleigh described the artist as "a well-bred ingenue out looking for fun and getting in trouble along the way." She became friendly with J.F.K.'s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, after he moved into the President's former Georgetown home with his family. She eventually became reconnected with the President, and the two began an alleged affair. When Kennedy took office, Meyer is said to have paid him several visits –– even when his wife was out of town.

Leaks and sightings sparked the interest of tabloids galore, but both Meyer and Kennedy remained hush of their relationship, according to The New York Times. A journalist confidant, James Truitt, is said to have betrayed Meyer's trust by passing on some of her secrets to the National Inquirer.

Meyer was murdered on October 13, 1964, in Georgetown after being shot by a stranger. At the time, The New York Times reported that a 25-year-old "laborer" named Raymon Crump Jr. was charged with the crime but was later found not guilty. Authorities have since been unable to solve the mystery behind Meyer's murder.

Following her death, her brother-in-law Benjamin C. Bradlee found a passage in Meyer's diary confirming her alleged affair with Kennedy. A seperate article by The New York Times revealed Bradlee and his wife found the journal after top C.I.A. counterintelligence officer James J. Angleton reportedly attempted to break into Meyer's home to steal it. The Bradlees eventually handed in the diary to the C.I.A., and its contents remain mostly unknown.

Speaking to The New York Times in 2016, executive vice president at R.R. Auction Robert Livingston said we might never know if Kennedy and Meyer ever met. However, the late President was confirmed to be in Boston on October 19 –– the date stated in the letter. 

"It's something you wouldn't expect to see from a president," Livingston said. "And the fact that he didn't send it, obviously he came to his senses."

John F. Kennedy became notorious for his multiple love affairs while in office. According to The Express, the President had even been involved with big names like Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, and Judith Campbell Exner. Yet his relationship with Meyer was different. Charles Bartlett, a journalist and old friend of Kennedy, said he was "in love" with Meyer.

"He was heavily smitten. He was very frank with me about it," Bartlett said, as quoted by The Express.

Many questions surrounding Meyer and Kennedy's relationship remain unanswered to this day.

In any case, Kennedy's letter detailed a raw, intimate yet romantic message for Meyer, in which he expressed a desperate yearning for the two to meet. It reads:

"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 is unwise, irrational, and that you may hate it — on the other hand you may not — and I will love it. You say that it is 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."

“It’s something you wouldn’t expect to see from a president,” said R.R. Auction executive vice-president Robert Livingston in a May 2015 interview. “And the fact that he didn’t send it, obviously he came to his senses.”

With a minimum bid of $5,000 and an estimated value of around $30,000, the letter sold for $88,971 in 2016.

What do you think about John F. Kennedy's love letter to Mary Pinchot Meyer? Let us know in the comments –– and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!