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Reflections of Ken Towery
Jenkins Revisited
There used to be an old saying that went something like "even a blind hog will come up with an acorn once in a while, if he just keeps root'n around."
That may be true. In fact, it probably is true. But sometimes another old saying rears its ugly head. That has to do with the law of unintended consequences. Those of us who dabble with the printed word face it all the time. Back in the 1950's, when I was leading a sort of one-man newspaper crusade on behalf of Texas veterans in what became known as the Veterans Land Scandal, I wrote a sort of tongue-in-cheek satire (or, I thought it was satirical) about a dog that found a bone, brought it home and buried it in his master's back yard, with the full knowledge of the dog's master. The owner was happy to know the bone was buried and out of the way. The owner wanted the bone to remain buried. The owner lived in mortal terror that the dog would unearth the bone and leave it around the neighborhood, where it would foul the atmosphere, and he might be blamed. As long as that situation prevailed, both the dog and the owner lived a peaceful life.
Most people around the DeWitt County community realized we were talking about the District Judge, Howard P. Green. and one of his great poker-playing buddies, one C.O."Booster" Hagan of Yoakum, who, the defense lawyer Ed Clark (and close friend and confidante to LBJ) once told me, put the whole thing together. Many people, including myself, felt that if Booster was involved (and at that time it looked like he was) then H. P. Green knew all about it. But so great was our failure to write the perfect satire that some folks around the community thought we were defending both Green and Hagan. So, sometimes we are faced with the "unintended consequences" aspect of what we write.
All of which is a round-about way of getting back into a story that dealt with one Walter Jenkins, who used to be a trusted aide to President Lyndon Banes Johnson many years ago. Walter was a long time employee of Lyndon who got into all sorts of public trouble for going down into a public bath/rest room, of sorts, during the 1960's, and, shall we put it as delicately as possible, inviting anyone present to partake of his …uh, ah, offering. Someone did, and the police happened along.
At any rate, and to make a long story a little shorter, when Walter got arrested in the bathhouse, or public restroom, or whatever it was, it became big news. So big, in fact, that it came to the attention of a prisoner in an Arizona prison, who told a fellow inmate he remembered Jenkins from way back, and that he had been in trouble with the law before for "contributing" to the delinquency of a minor in Austin, Texas. The prisoner told the warden, who told somebody in Washington, who told whomever. The Presidential election was just days away, and it was apparent Lyndon was going to win. Still the Goldwater folks wanted to milk the story for all they could, and they asked Senator John Tower, then the junior Senator from Texas, and a big Goildwater supporter, to go down to Austin to check out the prisoner's story. Tower refused. He said he did not believe "in that kind of politics", but he had no objections to me going to Austin for the same reason. So, I went, and the "Reflections" piece on the Hesperian's website tells that story.
We wrote the story, after all these years, simply as an historical footnote to illustrate the extent of Lyndon's reach in Texas politics…and the fawning, protective, proclivity of many LBJ followers, as well as the media's reluctance to say anything at that time that might reflect unfavorably on Lyndon, so united were they in opposition to Goldwater.
But here the business of "unintended consequences" takes over. Many found the "reflections" piece interesting, but for entirely different reasons. One man (and we use the term advisedly), wrote in, or sent an e-mail, from California. He had stumbled upon the site and wanted us to know how thrilled he was, years ago, to find out that someone else out there had to be…oh, shall we say…understanding of his own circumstances. He (and he signed his name as Alan Ross of Los Angelos), was absolutely thrilled to find out that there was a man in high places who shared his feelings. He was a student, from the St. Louis area at a college in Pennsylvania, when he read in the papers, during the 1960's, about Jenkins, and he was wrestling with his own sexuality at that time. He was in ecstasy that someone in high places shared his experience and understanding, especially since the person involved also was married and had children, which he also ultimately had (one son, now aged 37) who was, according to him, very supportive of his "lifestyle."
Not a mention of what we were concerned about in relating the whole episode. Not a word about Lyndon's reach into the bowels of the Austin City Council. It was all about how happy he was to find out that someone in high places understood, or might understand, what he had undergone with his "partner" of 37 years. And, I might add, not a word of what ultimately happened to his wife after he finally abandoned his attempt at the "straight" life and took up with his "partner," whom he legally "married" as soon as the chance arose. Clearly, queers travel on different wavelengths from most of us. The things that are of vital importance to them are not necessarily important to most of us, and vice verse.
Another e-mail, this one from an attorney named Ben Baring in Houston, was much more apropos. He, too, happened upon the website for reasons unknown to us, but which was fortuitous for both. He read the "reflections" piece about the same time he was listening to the LBJ tapes dealing with the same subject. He wrote of the telephone conversations recorded, at that time, between Lyndon and Lady Bird. They both, evidently, realized the political implications of Walter's arrest, but differed on the solution. Lady Bird wanted, according to the tape, to move Walter to Austin and put him in charge of "their" broadcast properties. Lady Bird's theory, after visits with Walter's wife, was that much of Walter's transgressions were the result of "overwork", forced on Walter by Lyndon, so therefore they owed him some favors in return. Lyndon, according to the tapes, was afraid that placing Walter in charge of broadcast properties in Austin, might result in loss of the FCC license to operate.
So our readers can be assured that we have not altered the meaning of the conversation between Lady Bird and Lyndon, we will here reproduce the e-mail from the Houston attorney, Mr. Ben Baring of the law firm, of DeLange, Hudspeth, McConnell & Tibbets:
"I just came across your article on LBJ and the Walter Jenkins affair. It was very interesting reading. I have been listening to the LBJ tapes during this time period. Some of the questions you asked in your piece may be answered by listening to them. For example, it comes through loud and clear from the tapes that Lady Bird was supportive because she had been talking with Jenkins wife, who blamed Johnson for overworking her husband (and which she said made him have a "nervous breakdown"). Ladybird wanted badly to support her and him. She even wanted to give Walter the job of running KTBC in Austin. LBJ told her they couldn't do that because they might lose the license if they allowed him to run it, and she said she was willing to take that chance. Another sidelight: The tapes reveal that LBJ didn't think Goldwater would use the Jenkins affair to his advantage because Jenkins served under Goldwater in the armed forces, and received glowing reviews. Anyway, since you have personal knowledge of these times, I recommend the tapes to you, if you don't already have them. Hearing Johnson manipulate is great drama, even if from on the phone 40 years ago."
(One can contemplate the silliness, the stupidity, of Lyndon's stated concerns to Lady Bird. Here was a sitting President of the United States, one who made no secret of his absolute control over the Executive Branch of Government, even to the point of telling his Generals which targets to bomb in Vietnam, plus vast power over the Legislative Branch as well, theoretically worrying about what the FCC might do if he put Walter in charge of KTBC in Austin. The mere thought of such a situation boggles the mind. Knowing Lyndon well, and unfavorably, we can perhaps be forgiven for thinking that he was thinking elective politics, not FCC.
And his stated beliefs that Goldwater would not use the information to his own advantage, given the chance, was just so much hogwash. Lyndon thought in political terms, nothing else. He knew, he practiced, the art of leaving nothing to chance when politics was concerned. Had that not been a consuming imperative in his life he would never have given up the position of Senate Majority Leader and accepted the then meaningless Vice Presidency under the hated Kennedy's in the first place.
Walter ultimately moved back to Austin, and opened some sort of electronic operation with an awful lot of help from people in High Places. In time, we are told, his marriage ended in divorce. But as far as we know, there was never any animosity within what we might call "the extended LBJ family." And for people in similar circumstances, Austin would probably be a beautiful place to retire.
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