Editing Jack Valenti

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Short description|American political advisor and lobbyist (1921–2007)}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Jack Valenti
|image        = Jack Valenti Portrait.jpeg
|office       = Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the [[Motion Picture Association of America]]
|term_start   = June 1, 1966
|term_end     = September 1, 2004
|predecessor  = [[Eric Johnston]]
|successor    = [[Dan Glickman]]
|office1      = [[White House Chief of Staff]]
|status1      = De facto
|president1   = [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
|term_start1  = July 8, 1965
|term_end1    = June 1, 1966
|predecessor1 = [[Bill Moyers]] (de facto)
|successor1   = [[W. Marvin Watson]] (de facto)
|office2      = [[Secretary to the President of the United States#Appointments Secretary|White House Appointments Secretary]]
|president2   = [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
|term_start2  = November 22, 1963
|term_end2    = February 1, 1965<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpU4DQAAQBAJ&q=marvin+watson+appointments+secretary+february+1965&pg=PA48 | title=Appointment of Judges: The Johnson Presidency| isbn=9780292741416| last1=McFeeley| first1=Neil D.| date=March 1987| publisher=University of Texas Press}}</ref>
|predecessor2 = [[Kenneth O'Donnell]]
|successor2   = [[W. Marvin Watson]]
|birth_name   = Jack Joseph Valenti
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1921|9|5}}
|birth_place  = [[Houston]], [[Texas]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{death date and age|2007|4|26|1921|9|5}}
|death_place  = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|restingplace = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
|spouse       = {{marriage|Mary Wiley|1962}}
|children     = 3
|education    = [[University of Houston]] ([[Bachelor of Business Administration|BBA]])<br>[[Harvard University]] ([[Master of Business Administration|MBA]])
}}
'''Jack Joseph Valenti''' (September 5, 1921 – April 26, 2007) was an American political advisor and lobbyist who served as a Special Assistant to U.S. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. He was also the longtime president of the [[Motion Picture Association of America]]. During his 38-year tenure in the MPAA, he created the [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|MPAA film rating system]], and was generally regarded as one of the most influential pro-[[copyright]] [[lobbyist]]s in the world. <!-- need more info on the influence he has wielded in particular negotiations -->

==Early life and education==
Valenti was born on September 5, 1921, in [[Houston]], the son of Italian immigrants. He attended [[Sam Houston High School (Houston, Texas)|Sam Houston High School]]. During [[World War II]], he was a [[first lieutenant]] in the [[United States Army Air Force]]. Valenti flew 51 combat missions as the pilot-commander of a [[B-25 Mitchell|B-25 medium bomber]] and received four decorations, including the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] and [[Air Medal]].

Valenti graduated from the [[University of Houston]] in 1946 with a BA. During his time there, he worked on the staff of the university newspaper, ''[[The Daily Cougar]]'', and was president of the university's student government. Valenti would later serve on the university's board of regents.

== Career ==
After earning an M.B.A. from [[Harvard University]] in 1948, Valenti worked for [[Humble Oil]] in its advertising department, where he helped the company's Texas gas stations jump from fifth to first in sales through a "cleanest restrooms" campaign.

In 1952, he and a partner named Weldon Weekley founded the advertising agency Weekley & Valenti, with oil company [[Conoco]] as its first client. In 1956, Valenti met then Senate Majority Leader [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Weekley & Valenti branched out into political consulting and added Representative [[Albert Thomas (American politician)|Albert Thomas]], a Johnson ally, as a client. In 1960, Valenti's firm assisted in the [[1960 United States presidential election|Kennedy-Johnson presidential campaign]].<ref name="Thomas Mallon 2007">{{Cite news |last=Mallon |first=Thomas |date=2007-06-24 |title=The President's Man |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/books/review/Mallon-t.html |access-date=2023-02-09 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Politics===
[[File:Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office, November 1963.jpg|thumb|300px|Valenti (far left) was present at Lyndon B. Johnson's swearing in aboard [[Air Force One]].]]

Valenti served as liaison with the news media during President [[John F. Kennedy]] and Vice President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s November 22, 1963, visit to [[Dallas]], Texas, and Valenti was in the presidential motorcade. Following the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination of President Kennedy]], Valenti was present at Johnson's swearing-in aboard [[Air Force One]], and flew with him to Washington. He then became the first "special assistant" to Johnson's [[White House]] and lived there for the first two months of Johnson's presidency.<ref>{{cite book|title=This Time, This Place|url=https://archive.org/details/thistimethisplac00vale|url-access=registration|first=Jack|last=Valenti|year=2007|publisher=Crown Publishers |isbn=9780307346643 }}</ref> In 1964, Johnson gave Valenti the responsibility to handle relations with the Republican Congressional leadership, particularly [[Gerald Ford]] and [[Charles A. Halleck]] from the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], and the [[United States Senate|Senate]]'s [[Everett Dirksen]].<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/opinion/24valenti.html | title= The Best of Enemies | last=Valenti | first=Jack |date= June 24, 2005 | access-date=August 24, 2009| work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Valenti later called Johnson "the most single dominating human being that I've ever been in contact with" and "the single most intelligent man I've ever known".<ref>[http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/vietnam-9ce4c1-interview-with-jack-valenti-1981 "Interview with Jack Valenti, 1981".] April 23, 1981. WGBH Media Library & Archives. Retrieved November 3, 2010.</ref> In a speech before the [[American Advertising Federation]] in 1965, Valenti said: "I sleep each night a little better, a little more confidently, because Lyndon Johnson is my president."<ref name="Thomas Mallon 2007"/><ref>Address before the Advertising Federation of America convention, Boston, Massachusetts (June 28, 1965); published in the Congressional Record (July 7, 1965) Vol. 111, Appendix, p. A3583</ref>

Valenti later criticized film director [[Oliver Stone]] for the 1991 film ''[[JFK (film)|JFK]]''. He called the film a "monstrous charade" and said, "I owe where I am today to Lyndon Johnson. I could not live with myself if I stood by mutely and let some filmmaker soil his memory."<ref>Bernard Weinraub, "Valenti Calls 'J.F.K.' 'Hoax' and 'Smear'", ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 2, 1992.</ref>

===MPAA===
In 1966, Valenti, at the insistence of [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] chief [[Lew Wasserman]] and with Johnson's consent, resigned his White House commission and became president of the [[Motion Picture Association of America]]. With Valenti's arrival in Hollywood, the pair were lifelong allies, and together orchestrated and controlled how Hollywood would conduct business for the next several decades.

[[William F. Patry]], a copyright attorney for the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton administration]], who observed Valenti firsthand says:

<blockquote>His personal passion and extreme comfort around politicians gave him credibility that others ... would lack. Mr Valenti was a consummate salesman, who like all great salesmen ... worked himself up into believing the truth of his clients' message. Those privileged to see Mr Valenti offstage – talking openly with his clients about what could or could not be achieved, and what artifice would or would not work – are aware that Mr Valenti's clients frequently disagreed with his advice and directed him to deliver a different message through a different artifice. [He] was a great actor working on the stage of Washington DC (and sometimes globally) on behalf of an industry that appreciated his craft, but that never let him forget that the message was theirs and not his.<ref name="Moralpanics">Patry, W. F.: ''Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars'', Oxford University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|0-19-538564-0}}.</ref></blockquote>

====Movie rating system====
In 1968, Valenti developed the [[MPAA film rating system]],<ref name="desques">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-2Y1AAAAIBAJ&pg=5106%2C7197294 |work=Deseret News |location=(Salt Lake City, Utah) |agency=(The Moviegoer) |title=Questionable ratings to gain patronge?|date=October 31, 1968|page=10A}}</ref> which initially comprised four distinct ratings: G, M, [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|R]] and [[X-rated|X]]. The M rating was soon replaced by GP, and changed to PG in 1972. The X rating immediately proved troublesome, since it was not trademarked and therefore used freely by the pornographic film industry, with which it became most associated. Mainstream films such as ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'' and ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' were assumed by the public to be pornographic because they carried the X rating. In 1990, the trademarked "adults only" [[NC-17]] rating was introduced as a replacement for the non-trademarked X-rating. The PG-13 rating was added in 1984 to provide a greater range of distinction for audiences and was first proposed by [[Steven Spielberg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/pg-13-20-how-indiana-remade-films-wbna5798549|title=PG-13 at 20: How 'Indiana' remade films|website=TODAY.com|date=August 23, 2004 }}</ref>

====Valenti on new technologies====
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Valenti became notorious for his flamboyant attacks on the [[Sony]] [[Betamax]] [[Videocassette recorder|Video Cassette Recorder (VCR)]], which the MPAA feared would devastate the film industry. He famously told a [[United States Congress|congressional]] panel in 1982, "I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the [[Boston strangler]] is to the woman home alone."<ref>[http://cryptome.org/hrcw-hear.htm Jack Valenti Testimony at 1982 House Hearing on Home Recording of Copyrighted Works]</ref> Despite Valenti's prediction, the [[home video]] market became a mainstay of film studio revenues throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

====Digital Millennium Copyright Act====
[[File:JackValenti19.JPG|left|thumb|Jack Valenti in 1991]]
In 1998, Valenti lobbied for the controversial [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]], arguing that [[copyright infringement]] via the Internet would severely damage the record and film industries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tech.mit.edu/V124/N20/ValentiIntervie.20f.html|title=Real Dialogue: The Tech interviews Jack Valenti - The Tech|website=tech.mit.edu|access-date=May 8, 2009|archive-date=February 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205114726/http://tech.mit.edu/V124/N20/ValentiIntervie.20f.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====2003 screener ban injunction====
In 2003, Valenti found himself at the center of the so-called [[screener (promotional)|screener]] debate, as the MPAA barred studios and many independent producers from sending screener copies of their films to critics and voters in various awards shows. Under mounting industry pressure and a court [[injunction]] ''[[Antidote Films|Antidote Int'l Films Inc]]. et al. v MPAA'' (November 2003), Valenti backed down in 2004, narrowly avoiding a massive and embarrassing [[antitrust]] lawsuit against the MPAA.

The Coalition of Independent Filmmakers' [[Jeff Levy-Hinte]], IFP/Los Angeles executive director Dawn Hudson and IFP/New York executive director Michelle Byrd said in a joint statement, "By obtaining a court order to force the MPAA to lift the screener ban last December, the Coalition enabled individual distributors to determine when and in what manner to distribute promotional screeners." It was viewed as Valenti's greatest professional loss.

=== Honors ===
Valenti received the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] and [[Air Medal]] for his service with the [[Army Air Force]] during the [[Second World War]].
In 1969, Jack Valenti received the [[Bronze Medallion (New York City award)|Bronze Medallion]], New York City's highest civilian honor.
In 1985, Jack Valenti received the French [[Légion d'Honneur]].<ref>{{cite news|author1=James F. Clarity|author2=Francis X. Clines|date=June 4, 1985|title=A French Hug|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E4D81439F937A35755C0A963948260|access-date=May 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scanblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/jack-valenti.html|title=It's all good: Jack Valenti|date=April 29, 2007}}</ref>

In 2002, the University of Houston bestowed Valenti an honorary doctorate.

In December 2003, Valenti received the "Legend in Leadership Award" from the Chief Executive Leadership Institute of the [[Yale School of Management]].

In June 2005, the Washington DC headquarters of the Motion Picture Association of America, was renamed the Jack Valenti Building. It is located at 888 16th St. NW, Washington DC, very close to the White House. Jack Valenti maintained an office on the 8th floor, outside the MPAA's space, until his death.

In April 2008, the University of Houston renamed its School of Communication to the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication in his honor. Valenti was one of the school's notable alumni.<ref>{{cite web|author=Wilson Sr., Welcome|date=April 26, 2008|title=Fitting way to remember Valenti|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5732031.html|access-date=April 28, 2008|work=chron.com|publisher=[[Houston Chronicle]]}}</ref>

==Retirement==
[[File:Jack-valenti-164x299.jpg|thumb|200px|Jack Valenti]]
Valenti's salary in 2004 was reported to be $1.35 million, which made him the seventh-highest paid Washington trade group chief, according to the [[National Journal]].

Valenti was nominated for President of the United States by the [[Alfalfa Club]] in 2004.

In August 2004, Valenti, then 82, retired and was replaced by former U.S. [[Congressman]] and [[Secretary of Agriculture]] [[Dan Glickman]]. The previous head of the ratings system, [[Joan Graves]], was appointed by Valenti.

After retirement from the MPAA, Valenti became involved in technology-related venture capital activities, such as joining the Advisory Board of Legend Ventures where he advised on media investment opportunities. He also remained a supporter of causes linked to his Italian American heritage and was a member of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) for more than 20 years.

After retiring from the MPAA in 2004, Valenti became the first President of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, an organization founded by philanthropists [[Edward W. Scott]] and Adam Waldman. The founders wanted to support the [[Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria]] in its work to prevent millions of people from dying of preventable and treatable diseases each year. Under Valenti's leadership, Friends of the Global Fight oversaw a steady increase in U.S. funding for the Global Fund, resulting in a large-scale, positive impact in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Valenti remained President of Friends of the Global Fight until his death in 2007.<ref>http://www.theglobalfight.org/ Friends of the Global Fight</ref>

==Personal life==
Valenti married Mary Margaret Wiley who served on the staff of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. They had three children: John, Alexandra, and Courtenay Valenti, who became a [[Warner Bros.]] studio executive. He died just before their forty-fifth wedding anniversary.

[[Nancy Clark Reynolds]] had been a love interest of Valenti.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/us/politics/nancy-clark-reynolds-dead.html|title=Nancy Clark Reynolds, a Player in Reagan's Washington, Dies at 94|first=Clay|last=Risen|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 10, 2022|accessdate=June 14, 2022}}</ref>

In 1964, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] conducted an investigation concerning whether Valenti had a sexual relationship with a male photographer, at a time when homosexual acts were still illegal in many parts of the United States. The investigation concluded that there was no evidence of Valenti being homosexual.<ref>{{cite news |title=FBI probed sexuality of L.B.J. aide Jack Valenti |website=[[MSNBC]] |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29274439/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221073945/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29274439/ |archive-date=February 21, 2009}}</ref>

=== Death ===
Valenti died from complications of a stroke at his home in Washington on April 26, 2007, at the age of 85.<ref>{{cite news |last=Halbfinger |first=David M. |date=April 26, 2007 |title=Jack Valenti, confidant of presidents and stars, dies at&nbsp;85 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/obituaries/27valenticndcnd.html?scp=1&sq=%22Jack%20Valenti%22%20dies&st=cse |access-date=July 9, 2008}}</ref> He is buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] under a veteran's gravestone, which lists both his war decorations and his years as president of the MPAA.<ref>{{cite web |title=Valenti, Jack Joseph |series=Burial details |website=ANC Explorer |url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/Cgd2YWxlbnRpEgRqYWNrGgFq/}}</ref> His memoirs ''This Time, This Place: My life in war, the White House and Hollywood'' were published on May 15, 2007, a few weeks after his death.<ref name="Thomas Mallon 2007"/>

Following his death, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) launched the NIAF Jack Valenti Institute, which provides support to Italian-American film students, in his memory. Director [[Martin Scorsese]] launched the institute at the Foundation's 32nd Anniversary Gala, after receiving an award from Mary Margaret Valenti.

==In popular culture==
In 1995, Valenti voiced himself in the ''[[Freakazoid!]]'' episode "The Chip", where he helped recount the origin of the titular hero; he also lectured about the MPAA rating system using stickers of a family, and made frequent references to his cheeks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simon |first=Ben |date=August 22, 2008 |title=Freakazoid!: Season 1 – Animated Views |url=https://animatedviews.com/2008/freakazoid-season-1/ |access-date=May 10, 2025 |website=Animated Views |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Young |first=John |date=September 13, 2011 |title='Freakazoid!': Best Steven Spielberg cartoon of the '90s? |url=https://ew.com/article/2011/09/13/freakazoid-nostalgia-steven-spielberg/ |access-date=May 10, 2025 |website=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref>

In the 2016 film [[Jackie (2016 film)|''Jackie'']], about the life of First Lady [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] after [[assassination of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy's assassination]], Valenti is portrayed by [[Max Casella]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lane |first=Anthony |date=November 27, 2016 |title=The Sad Spectacle of "Jackie" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/05/jackie-and-allied |access-date=May 10, 2025 |work=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nolfi |first=Joey |date=October 5, 2016 |title=Natalie Portman's Jacqueline Kennedy Mourns JFK in First 'Jackie' Trailer |url=https://ew.com/article/2016/10/05/jackie-trailer-natalie-portman/ |access-date=May 10, 2025 |website=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Books==
* ''Ten Heroes and Two Heroines'' (1957)
* ''The Bitter Taste of Glory'' (1971)
* ''A Very Human President'' (1976; {{ISBN|0-671-80834-6}})
* ''Protect and Defend'' (1992; {{ISBN|0-385-41735-7}})
* ''Speak Up With Confidence'' (2002; {{ISBN|0-7868-8750-8}})
* ''This Time This Place'' (2007; {{ISBN|0-307-34664-1}})

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb name|0884122}}
* {{C-SPAN|414}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Kenneth O'Donnell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary to the President of the United States#Appointments Secretary|White House Appointments Secretary]]|years=1963–1965}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[W. Marvin Watson]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Bill Moyers]]<br>De facto}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[White House Chief of Staff]]<br>De facto|years=1965–1966}}
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{{s-npo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Eric Johnston]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Motion Picture Association of America]]|years=1966–2004}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Dan Glickman]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{WHCOS}}
{{Producers Guild of America Milestone Award}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Valenti, Jack}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:21st-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:American lobbyists]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American recipients of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Chairpersons of the Motion Picture Association]]
[[Category:Copyright activists]]
[[Category:Harvard Business School alumni]]
[[Category:Italian-American culture in Texas]]
[[Category:Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Texas]]
[[Category:Neurological disease deaths in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:University of Houston alumni]]
[[Category:University of Houston System regents]]
[[Category:White House chiefs of staff]]
[[Category:Witnesses to the assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:Writers from Houston]]