Back to Past Chats

Back to T2A Home

Listen to actual chat audio on selected questions!

Erin: Welcome to T2A webchat for Wednesday, September 26th. Today we meet Mary Margaret Valenti and Dan Glickman. Mrs. Valenti is the wife of Jack Valenti, who died in April, just before publication of his new book This Time, This Place. The book tells the story of how Mr. Valenti became a special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson in the wake of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It also covers Valenti’s Houston childhood and experience as a World War Two B-25 pilot. The book gives an insider's view of the Johnson White House. It chronicles Valenti's 38 years as chair and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, an organization with close ties to Washington politics. Our other guest, Mr. Glickman, currently serves as chair and CEO of MPAA. He previously served as U.S. Agriculture Secretary and Congressman from my home state of Kansas.

 Listen to Mr. Glickman's opening greeting!  Real Audio   MP3 Audio 

-------------------------------

Turkay, Azerbaijan (email): Mrs. Valenti, did Mr. Valenti follow a favorite proverb?  And what were his feelings about war?

(Moderator Erin Brummett, Mary Margaret Valenti and Dan Glickman)

Mrs. Valenti: Don't know if he had a favorite proverb but he often quoted the golden rule, treating others, as he wanted to be treated. He had a very strong code of loyalty, being very loyal to family and friends. On war, it's very complex. As you mentioned Jack flew 51 bombing missions in World War Two and I often heard him say he was scared out of his wits most of the time. He was very loyal to President Johnson but I believe toward the end he felt we Americans did not understand the people of Vietnam and Southeast Asia just as I think he believed we do not understand the culture of the Middle East and Iraq and he felt the war in Iraq was a colossal mistake.

-------------------------------

Wondwossen, Ethiopia (email): Mrs. Valenti, I once read a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte and discovered that leaders dictate some big issues to their secretaries or let their secretaries deal with issues themselves according to their boss’ interest. What is the responsibility of being an assistant or a secretary to the US president?

 Listen to actual chat audio of this answer!  Real Audio   MP3 Audio 

Mrs. Valenti: I can only speak from my own experience with Jack's work with President Johnson. The President did not have a chief of staff. Jack had varied roles, he wrote speeches, he did editing, handled the President's appointments and kept up with certain members of congress, he lobbied on Capitol Hill for certain pieces of legislation. It was variety of jobs, a backbreaking job, starting at 6am and home at 9pm and I would take our young daughter to the White House in the afternoon so he could see her. They were very exciting days and very important legislation was passed during those years.

-------------------------------

A.C. Rathinavel, India (email): Mrs. Valenti, what is your favorite memory of Jack?

Mrs. Valenti: My favorite memory, I remember the first time I met him in Houston, at a large lunch and he met me at the airport and drove me to town and arranged the place cards so we sat next to each other at lunch and he talked about Jackie Kennedy, not the best way to impress a girl. We started talking about books and I found out we had some things in common, also the births of our three children. In 45 years you have a lot of memories and I'm sustained by a lot of those years, the White House years he referred to as the summertime of his life. He thoroughly enjoyed being in the move industry, with books and stories. That's what the movie industry is all about; you have to have a good story in order to have a good movie.

-------------------------------

Kemal, Ethiopia (email): Mr. Glickman, what was your happiest moment during your time as a congressman and while you served as Secretary of Agriculture?

(Dan Glickman answers a question)

 Listen to actual chat audio of this answer!  Real Audio   MP3 Audio 

Mr. Glickman: Getting elected because it is exhilarating and winning is pretty exhilarating. Doing important things for the people in your constituency, being an advocate for them whether it's helping them get government benefits or secure or maintain jobs and that was in congress. In the Department of Agriculture it was interestingly having a role in improving the civil rights of agriculture department employees and farmers. For years and years I do not think the Department of Agriculture treated minorities particularly very well, black farmers or minority employees and when I was Secretary, I think we did more to reverse that discrimination than ever before. We had an historical record not always one to be proud of but we made profound improvements. I always remember fondly working for President Clinton during this time period. He was extremely supportive of us in all these efforts.

-------------------------------

Andrianavalomalala, Madagascar (email): Mrs. Valenti, 1.Who is Jack Valenti (describe the type of person he was?) 2.When was his book published?

 Listen to actual chat audio of this answer!  Real Audio   MP3 Audio 

Mrs. Valenti: His book was published in May. Jack was born to a family of modest means; he worked his way through school, odd jobs, very energetic and ambitious, dynamic and highly intelligent, loyal to friends and family. So many felt they were Jack's best friend. He was a complicated, complex man, a lot of drive, very vigorous exercising every day; a charismatic, innovative, creative leader.

 Listen to actual chat audio of this answer!  Real Audio   MP3 Audio 

Mr. Glickman adds that as his successor, he believes Jack treated everybody as if they were the most important person in the world, didn't matter whether they were at the bottom of the totem pole or the average person on the street, that was a large part of his success. He didn't view people based on their station in life.

-------------------------------

Abbas, Nigeria (email): For both Mrs. Valenti and Mr. Glickman, What was it like for Mr. Valenti to be special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson? Tell me about Mr. Valenti’s and Mr. Glickman’s experiences as head of the Motion Picture Association of America and Mr. Glickman's experience as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture?

Mrs. Valenti: It was very demanding White House job. Jack in the first few months he lived on the third floor of the White House and he used to say he and Harry Hopkins were the only assistants to live in the White House. Your life was hardly your own. You didn't know when the President would call for you. Those were very exciting years to be a part of that administration and he strongly believed in the President's agenda including civil rights. And Jack very strongly believed in the goals of the Great Society of legislation that passed during the Johnson Administration, including voting rights in the South. 

(L to R: Dan Glickman, Mary Margaret Valenti, Erin Brummett)

Mr. Glickman: It was great to work for President Clinton. He was terrific, well liked at home and abroad and he was extremely competent and able and remains one of the most popular in the world. Secondly Mr. Clinton appointed me to lead an agency with 100-thousand employees, so we got to deal with farmers problems, nutrition issues, worldwide hunger issues, conservation, so it was extraordinarily exciting to be involved in issues important to every one around the world. Nigeria during my time with the Agriculture Department benefited greatly. As head of the MPAA, representing the film industry and movie stars is a pretty extraordinary thing to do. It is probably the most recognized American enterprise in the world, the production of movies and I get to be involved in promoting that industry, which is very exciting.

-------------------------------

Marcien, Cameroon (email): Madam Valenti, talk about President Johnson’s character and was he a private man?

(L to R  Mary Margaret Valenti, Erin Brummett , T2A's Subhash Vohra)

Mrs. Valenti: He was volatile and emotional, highly complex and intelligent, a visionary in some ways in what he wanted to do for this country. The book outlines this. President Johnson was a difficult and demanding boss but he got things done. Mrs. Johnson said Lyndon stretches me, meaning she rose to challenges and accomplished things and he tried to stretch everyone who worked for him. But he was demanding.

-------------------------------

Marcien, Cameroon (email): Mr. Dan Glickman, the United States is continuing to face a rapid urban sprawl yielding huge losses of farmland. As a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary, what could be an alternative to stop that?

Mr. Glickman: Many countries are pursuing farmland preservation initiatives to try to stop urban sprawl and to try to stop the loss of prime farmland to urban and suburban development, and the Europeans have been particularly successful with their strong zoning laws prescriptive easements. In our country a lot of private entities have created land trusts so certain land can be protected or not sold, particularly the sale of prime farmland. This is a very serious problem worldwide, particularly as population growth goes up, making sure we have enough food. Especially in China where there is extreme development on prime farmland and this is the part of the world suffering most from this issue right now.

-------------------------------

Erin: Mr. Glickman, how has the mission of the MPAA changed since you became Chairman and CEO in 2004?

Mr. Glickman: To represent the motion picture industry in the halls of congress. This started as uniquely American but now is global. It has become a lot more complicated recently with modern technology with new ways of getting film and television and music into the eyes and ears of people, on demand, not just in the theater. Keeping people from stealing that stuff is one of our highest priorities because we value very much the creative instincts of artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, publishers and others creating intellectual property.

-------------------------------

Erin: What can the motion picture industry do to help improve the image of the United States around the world?

Mr. Glickman: First, the industry is composed of creative people who determine the content of the product so the government does not tell them what to do, so by and large the marketplace determines what is created and sold. Tremendous diversity, some makes me cry and some makes me wonder if I'm in the right business. Yes, the industry has certainly a responsibility to try to reflect on the best values of America but ultimately it is that great diversity of creative talent that will produce the kind product that people will buy or not buy. I wish we could change the world overnight, with the movie industry, but that probably will not happen. As problematic as U.S. foreign policy is some times like now, people still love the movies.

-------------------------------

Erin: That wraps today’s T2A webchat with Mary Margaret Valenti and Dan Glickman. You can find the transcript of this discussion on our web page. Just go to voanews.com and click on the T2A link. Our thanks to Mrs. Valenti and Mr. Glickman, and to you for joining us. We hope you’ll join T2A for TWO chats next week!  Our first chat will be on Wednesday, October 3rd at 1800 UTC.  We'll discuss the Burma crisis with Christina Fink, a Thailand-based Burma expert who is author of "Living Silence: Burma Under Military Rule" and Kyaw zan Tha, who is an editor in VOA's Burmese Service.  Then on Thursday, October 4th at 1800 UTC, we meet Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. Jenna is author of Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope. Jenna met Ana during an internship for UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean. In her book, Jenna tells of Ana's struggle to break free from the cycle of abuse, silence, and illness. But this is not just Ana's story. It is also the story of many children around the world who are marginalized, neglected and mistreated. See you next week on T2A on voanews.com

-------------------------------