From 1966 to 1971, Dearden served as the first president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Dearden was instrumental in forming the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and its public-policy arm the United States Catholic Conference (USCC). Dearden worked with a group that had come to fame by redesigning the management of the auto industry – the Booz Allen Hamilton management-consultant firm. Together they worked to design NCCB's structures and procedures. The ethos that resulted gave the "bureaucracy significant power and influence in U.S. Catholic affairs. As the conference’s voice increased, that of individual bishops tended to decrease."