Early Life
Valenti was born in Houston, Texas, USA, on September 5, 1921, the son of Italian immigrants. During World War II, he was a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps, flew 51 combat missions as the pilot-commander of a B-25 medium bomber and received four decorations.
Valenti earned a B.B.A. from the University of Houston in 1946. 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.
After earning an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1948, Valenti went to work 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 Weekley & Valenti, an advertising agency, 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, a Johnson ally, as a client. In 1960, Valenti's firm assisted in the Kennedy-Johnson presidential campaign.
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