Born in Houston, Texas, Mr. Valenti was the youngest (age 15) high school graduate in the city. He began work as an office boy with the Humble Oil Company (now Exxon). As a young pilot in the Army Air Corps in World War II, Lieutenant Valenti flew 51 combat missions as the pilot-commander of a B-25 attack bomber with the 12th Air Force in Italy. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with four clusters, the Distinguished Unit Citation with one cluster, and the European Theater Ribbon with four battle stars. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Houston (doing all his undergraduate work at night, working during the day), and from Harvard University with an M.B.A. In 1952, he co-founded the advertising and political consulting agency of Weekley & Valenti. In 1955 he met the man who would have the largest impact on his life, the then Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, Lyndon B. Johnson. Mr. Valenti's agency was in charge of the press during the visit of President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson to Texas. Mr. Valenti was in the motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Within hours of the murder of John F. Kennedy, Mr. Valenti was on Air Force One flying back to Washington, D.C., the first newly hired special assistant to the new President. On June 1, 1966, Mr. Valenti resigned his White House post to become only the third man in MPAA history to become its leader.