Walter Jenkins, Johnson White House Aide, Dies

Walter Jenkins, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s close White House aide who resigned after he was arrested on a morals charge in a Washington restroom more than 20 years ago, has died, it was learned Monday.

Jenkins, 67, died Saturday at St. David’s Hospital, where he had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke June 27.

Jenkins first joined Johnson’s staff in 1939 when the future President was a member of the House and over the next 25 years served as office manager, personnel chief and administrative assistant.

Lost in Congress Race

At Johnson’s urging, Jenkins ran for Congress in 1951 but finished second in a field of eight candidates. Political analysts said at the time that he lost because he had changed religions, from Baptist to Roman Catholic.

Jenkins became a White House aide when Johnson became President in 1963.

“Walter was a good friend and a capable person,” Lady Bird Johnson, the President’s widow, said. “He is one of the dearest people I know. His relationship with Lyndon was a long, fond and dear one. I can’t say enough about his loyalty and ability.”

In 1964, Jenkins resigned from Johnson’s staff after an incident involving an alleged homosexual act in a public restroom, leading to his arrest on a morals charge. Jenkins forfeited a $50 bond rather than appear in court to face the charge.

The case also embarrassed the Secret Service, which had apparently overlooked an FBI report of an earlier 1959 morals arrest when the agency issued Jenkins his White House security clearance.

Jenkins returned to Austin and became a management consultant and operated a construction company.

He is survived by his wife, Margie, two daughters, four sons and 12 grandchildren.