Lloyd Bentsen: “Jake Pickle was a student of the ``old school of politics.'' Raised in the small Texas town of Roscoe, Jake never forgot…”

“Jake Pickle was a student of the ``old school of politics.'' Raised in the small Texas town of Roscoe, Jake never forgot his rural roots. Jake belongs to a dwindling group of Texas politicians who were the protegees of another great Texan, President Lyndon Baines Johnson. In fact, Jake represented the same Texas district as President Johnson had once before and our colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) now represents. In fact, as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) was telling me, that district used to run not just around Travis County, but ran all the way to Harris County at the time that Jake was first elected. He wore many hats during his political career, serving as a campaign manager, Congressional aid, Congressman and an adviser to LBJ. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, he became the area director of the National Youth Administration. He then went on to serve 3 rac{1}{2} years in the Navy in the Pacific during the Second World War. When he got back, he went into the radio business in Austin and then reentered politics in 1957 as the director of the Texas State Democratic Executive Committee, which at that time was considered a contact sport. In 1961, he was appointed a member of the Texas Employment Commission, resigning in 1963 to run for Congress.”