Less than a decade after developing the journal for (MENC), he became its president from 1960 to 1962. It was during this time that Russia had launched Sputnik and the United States tried to counteract that advancement by going "Back to the Basics." This meant that there was little monetary support for music. As the president of the Music Educators National Conference, he took it upon himself to harness the full potential of this organization's political power. MENC, now the National Association for Music Education, has since exercised its influence over numerous political and social actions.