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Born in Huston, Tx., Valenti was the youngest graduate from high school at the age of 15. At age 16 he began working for Humble Oil Co. - now known as Exxon - as an office boy.
As a young pilot in the Army Air Corps during WWII, Valenti, a Lieutenant, flew B-25's in 51 combat missions with the 12th Air Corp in Italy. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, European Theater Medal, and the Distinguished Unit Citation, shown above.
He has a B.A. degree from the University of Huston, and a M.B.A. from Harvard. In 1952 he co-founded the advertising-political consulting agency of Weekley & Valenti. In 1955 he met a man who would have the biggest impact on his life, then Majority Leader of the Senate, Lydon B. Johnson.
Valenti's agency was in charge of press for J.F.K.'s visit to Texas. Valenti was in the motorcade that fateful day in Dallas, November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot and killed. Within hours of the murder of J.F.K., Valenti was on Air Force One as it flew back to Washington, DC.
On June 1, 1966, Valenti resigned his White House post to become the President of the Motion Picture Association of America. A post he still holds today. He resides in Washington, DC with his wife Mary Margaret. They have 3 children, Courtenay, John, and Alexandra.
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