 McHenry taught government at Williams College and political science at Pennsylvania State College, and became a member of the faculty of political science at UCLA.During his time at UCLA, he ran for several political offices, including mayor of Los Angeles and for the United States Congress; he also authored numerous books.In 1958, he became the academic assistant to his long-time friend Clark Kerr, the then-president of the University of California, and in 1960 he helped Kerr draft California's Master Plan for Higher Education.