Editing Walter Jenkins (section)

==Government career==
Jenkins began working for Lyndon B. Johnson in 1939 when Johnson was serving in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] as the member from [[Texas's 10th congressional district]]. For most of the next 25 years, Jenkins served as Johnson's top administrative assistant, following Johnson as he rose to become a [[United States Senate|Senator]], [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] under [[John F. Kennedy]], and President.

From 1941 until 1945, Jenkins served in the [[United States Army]] during [[World War II]]. In 1951, he returned to Wichita Falls to run for the House of Representatives. Jenkins lost to [[Frank N. Ikard]] in a race marked by attacks on Jenkins because of his [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] faith.

Johnson's former aides credit Jenkins for his ability and temperament. In 1975, journalist [[Bill Moyers]], a former Johnson aide and press secretary, wrote in ''[[Newsweek]]'': "When they come to canonize political aides, [Jenkins] will be the first summoned, for no man ever negotiated the shark-infested waters of the Potomac with more decency or charity or came out on the other side with his integrity less shaken. If Lyndon Johnson owed everything to one human being other than Lady Bird, he owed it to Walter Jenkins." [[Joseph Califano]] wrote, "Jenkins was the nicest White House aide I ever met in any administration. He was never overbearing. It was quite remarkable."<ref name="LBJ's Gay Sex Scandal">{{cite news | author=Al Weisel | title=LBJ's Gay Sex Scandal | url=http://www.livefastdieyoungbook.com/outwalterjenkins.htm | work=Out Magazine | date=December 1999 | access-date=2009-02-24 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711182822/http://www.livefastdieyoungbook.com/outwalterjenkins.htm | archive-date=2009-07-11 }}</ref>

By the 1960s, Jenkins was more Johnson's friend than employee, close to [[Lady Bird Johnson]] and involved in their family finances as well. The Johnsons celebrated Lady Bird's fifty-first birthday at a party at Jenkins' home in December 1963.<ref>''New York Times'': [https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/23/archives/johnson-gives-wife-51-gift-that-helped-him-to-win-her.html "Johnson Gives Wife, 51, Gift that Helped Him to Win Her," December 23, 1963]. Retrieved November 13, 2010</ref>