A Man of Influence
RIGHT-HAND MAN: Valenti’s memoir richly describes his years in the White House, a time when LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act and made key decisions about the Vietnam War.
Estate of Jack Valenti
If Jack Valenti (MBA 3/’48) had lived to see the publication of his memoir, there’s no doubt the Houston native would have relished every whistle-stop appearance of his book tour. Ambitious, inquisitive, and brimming with gusto for life’s adventures, it’s easy to imagine Valenti sitting down with Charlie Rose or holding forth at a book reading. Instead, his death last April at 85 means most people will be introduced to this man’s remarkable life in This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood (Harmony Books, 2007).
It’s not a bad substitute. Given the book’s conversational, anecdotal style, it’s easy to get a sense of Valenti’s voice and personality as he takes us from his childhood as the grandson of Sicilian immigrants to World War II, when he piloted a B-25 attack bomber, to his time as an aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, to his 39 years amongst the movers and shakers of Hollywood as leader of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
Valenti also recounts his days at HBS, admitting, “I came to Harvard with an insouciant assumption that I would be first in the class. As it turned out, I had to ride at full gallop just to stay the course.” Not long after HBS, Valenti and a partner launched their own advertising firm, which eventually broadened to encompass political consulting. After doing some work for LBJ, the vice president asked Valenti to run President Kennedy’s reelection campaign fundraiser in Houston — hardly friendly territory for an Irish-Catholic Yankee. Pleased with JFK’s warm reception, LBJ invited Valenti to come along for the Dallas stop. In “The Longest Day,” Valenti describes what it was like to be part of the motorcade when Kennedy was shot — and how he found himself on Air Force One a few hours later, flying to Washington as LBJ’s special assistant.
For three years, Valenti had a fly-on-the-wall view of the President’s leadership style. His recollections are engaging and illuminating for the perspective they offer on LBJ and his complex legacy.
There are also useful insights on negotiation and management from Valenti’s tenure as head of the MPAA, where he established the current ratings system, greatly expanded the international market share for American films, and wrangled some of the biggest egos on the planet. Describing leadership, he writes, “It is rooted in the ability to engage in courtship, to cosset talent, to understand the human condition, and to make decisions fast.”
— Julia Hanna
