His father was a prominent Philadelphia investment banker who maintained a large estate in Bryn Mawr and a summer home on Cape Cod near Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

[6] Lt. Janney became a seasoned combat pilot during two tours of duty in the Pacific Theater and was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and three Navy Air Medals.

Janney was a part of an idealistic young group, including Cord Meyer, Jr., Tracy Barnes, Desmond FitzGerald, Frank Wisner, who were determined to prevent another nuclear conflict.

Along with Meyer, Barnes, FitzGerald and others, Janney was recruited by Allen Dulles into the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and he and his wife moved their family from New Haven to Washington, D.C., where others they knew were beginning their careers.

During this time, the CIA was engaged in extensive litigation regarding the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), seeking to block the release of documents that, it argued, exposed "sources and methods" of intelligence work.

"In many fields," said Janney in his role as CIA personnel director, "it is absolutely essential that the Agency have available to it the single greatest source of expertise: the American academic community.