The "dynamic and intelligent" Chapin was appointed to fill the CEO position at AMC following the departure of Roy Abernethy in 1967, along with William V. Luneburg as president. Chapin realized he was taking over at a crucial time; "The Wall Street Journal" described it as "a dying company." At the time, Chapin said, "We're going to have to show ingenuity." He reflected later that the most difficult period was "... when our president, Bill Luneburg, and I took over. We were out of money and we had to do something to overcome the immediate problems. We had no time to think about long-range problems. Obviously, we managed to solve immediate considerations..."