Texana Thursday: Remembering Jack Valenti

Jack Valenti, far left, was among those witnessing the swearing in of President Lyndon Johnson on November 22, 1963 (public domain photo).

He might not have had a starring role in politics or the movies, but it’s fair to say that Jack Valenti was a key member of the cast.

Valenti was a Houstonian. He grew up on Alamo Street, near downtown. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, returned to Houston, and got a job with what’s now ExxonMobil. He went to night school at the University of Houston and earned his bachelor’s degree. Later he would earn an MBA from Harvard University. He began an advertising firm, Weekly and Valenti. He even wrote some columns for the Houston newspapers.

To this point, Valenti’s story is typical of many of his generation. But the story takes some interesting twists at this point.

Valenti’s writing captured the attention of the then-U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson. They met and hit it off. Valenti played a key role in helping his fellow Texans support the Democratic ticket of John F. Kennedy and Johnson in the 1960 presidential campaign.

Valenti and Johnson remained in touch, and Valenti married one of Johnson’s former aides, Mary Margaret Wiley. Johnson gave the bride away at the wedding.

In November 1963, Valenti, at Johnson’s urging, organized a dinner in Houston to honor Albert Thomas, Houston’s long-time congressman. Kennedy and Johnson both spoke at the dinner. Johnson invited Valenti to join the official party for the duration of the trip, which was to include stops in Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, and the LBJ Ranch near Stonewall.

Valenti had expected to return to Houston following the trip. But with Kennedy’s assassination, everything changed.

The assassination was a tragedy for everyone. But for Valenti, it had to be an extra shock. One day, he was a Houston advertising executive and informal advisor to the vice president of the United States. The next day, he’s aboard Air Force One, witnessing a presidential swearing-in ceremony.

Valenti can be seen in the famous swearing-in picture, at the far left, next to Thomas.

When Air Force One was en route back to Washington, LBJ told Valenti that he wanted Valenti to be on his White House staff.

Valenti moved to Washington and served as a White House aide. He wrote speeches, helped coordinate the president’s schedule, and served as a liaison between the president and key congressional leaders.

In 1966, Lew Wasserman, the head of Universal Studios, was helping to lead efforts to find a president for the Motion Picture Association of America, the trade association for the movie industry. With LBJ’s consent, Valenti took the job.

He served in that role for 38 years, and was chiefly responsible for the creation of the movie rating system still in use today. Originally, G, M, R, and X. The system evolved to G, PG, PG-13, NC-17, R, and X.

Not all his ideas went over well, though. He opposed the development of the Sony Betamax Video Cassette Recorder (VCR), as he and the MPAA had concerns that the technology would ultimately hurt the movie industry. Things worked out differently, as the home movie market became a crucial revenue source for the movie studios.

Valenti’s autobiography, This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House and Hollywood, was published shortly after his death in 2007. His friend, the actor Michael Douglas, read and performed the audiobook version.

In addition to This Time, This Place, Valenti wrote several other books, two of which deserve special mention here. A Very Human President is his memoir of working for LBJ, and provides a fascinating account of life in the White House. Speak Up with Confidence is an excellent primer on public speaking.