Jack Joseph Valenti (born 1921) combined Hollywood and politics long before it was fashionable. Starting as an advertising and public relations man in Houston, Texas, Valenti became a trusted adviser and friend to President Lyndon Johnson. Valenti took over the helm of the Motion Picture Association of America in 1966, revamped an anachronistic ratings system, and was instrumental in helping to establish the American Film Institute.

Jack Valenti was born into a second-generation Italian-American family in Houston, Texas, on September 5, 1921. All four of his grandparents had immigrated to the United States from Sicily in the 1890s. Jack grew up on an unpaved road called Alamo Street in a working-class neighborhood, and his father was a clerk in Houston's county tax office. As a young boy who tried to help his family manage in difficult economic conditions, Jack always had jobs. He helped out in his grandfather's grocery store, sold newspapers...