Truth

The Tears of Autumn juxtaposes the practical view about truth held and practiced by field agent Paul Christopher and his long-time friend, David Patchen, who is high up in the Agency's hierarchy, with the view of members of the White House staff. Paul and David see human intellect as a force to be used, usually in secret, to arrive at objective truth. This allows them to predict others' mistakes and benefit from them. When Paul perceives a link between the assassinations of South Vietnamese leaders Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu and, 21 days later of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, he demands first of all to know that "the outfit" has nothing to do with the Ngo murders. David swears that the Kennedy White House knew ahead of time about the coup d'etat in Vietnam, assisted in its planning, and approved of the outcome. The Agency...