Outed: LBJ’s Confidant and the Arrest that Transformed a Presidency with Timothy Stewart-Winter (U Chicago Press, 2026)

One of them is just a little bit about Walter Jenkins.

Who was this person? And then also, how does a deep dive into his life and times help us understand post-war U.S.

history and the kind of things that are involved with his life?

staff member.

He started working for Lyndon Johnson in 1939, so 25 years before this whole episode.

Lyndon Johnson was a congressman representing the 10th congressional district of Texas.

Um, he had been elected for the first time in a special election in 1937 and then elected to a full term.

So Johnson was this young, um, you know, pretty unknown member of Congress.

Uh, Walter Jenkins was 21.

The Dean at UT Austin, where he went to school kind of recommended him to the, you know, Johnson's district included the city of Austin.

Um, And so his life and Johnson's life were intertwined this whole period.

Their families were very close friends.

And both Johnson and Jenkins went off to World War II, came back.

And Jenkins had left briefly to run for Congress himself in 1951.

He came in second in a crowded special election.

But basically, he'd worked for Johnson for a quarter century.

And he was his right-hand man.

He knew all of Johnson's kind of professional secrets, backroom dealings.

He was the guy who kept track of what Johnson had told to whom.

So kind of more than an office manager, kind of an all-around trusted aide.

So he was like, I think of him as, you know, this is an era when the U.S. government is growing very fast, and Jenkins is right there.

He's involved in the expansion of the government, and he goes back and forth with Johnson from Washington to Austin, Texas.

I didn't mention Jenkins' own personal background, but basically pretty similar to LBJ.

He was from rural North Texas from a poor family and went to junior college, worked very hard to kind of get to UT Austin and graduate.

Yeah.

One of them is just a little bit about Walter Jenkins.

Who was this person? And then also, how does a deep dive into his life and times help us understand post-war U.S.

history and the kind of things that are involved with his life?

staff member.

He started working for Lyndon Johnson in 1939, so 25 years before this whole episode.

Lyndon Johnson was a congressman representing the 10th congressional district of Texas.

Um, he had been elected for the first time in a special election in 1937 and then elected to a full term.

So Johnson was this young, um, you know, pretty unknown member of Congress.

Uh, Walter Jenkins was 21.

The Dean at UT Austin, where he went to school kind of recommended him to the, you know, Johnson's district included the city of Austin.

Um, And so his life and Johnson's life were intertwined this whole period.

Their families were very close friends.

And both Johnson and Jenkins went off to World War II, came back.

And Jenkins had left briefly to run for Congress himself in 1951.

He came in second in a crowded special election.

But basically, he'd worked for Johnson for a quarter century.

And he was his right-hand man.

He knew all of Johnson's kind of professional secrets, backroom dealings.

He was the guy who kept track of what Johnson had told to whom.

So kind of more than an office manager, kind of an all-around trusted aide.

So he was like, I think of him as, you know, this is an era when the U.S. government is growing very fast, and Jenkins is right there.

He's involved in the expansion of the government, and he goes back and forth with Johnson from Washington to Austin, Texas.

I didn't mention Jenkins' own personal background, but basically pretty similar to LBJ.

He was from rural North Texas from a poor family and went to junior college, worked very hard to kind of get to UT Austin and graduate.

Yeah.