- Commissioner of the National Basketball Association (1975-1984).
- Special Assistant to the President for Congressional Relations and Personnel (1961-1965).
- Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1968-1969, 1970-1973).
- Postmaster General of the United States (1965-1968).
- As Democratic National Chairman, it was his office that the burglars entered in the infamous 1972 break-in at the Watergate Hotel, leading to one of the greatest scandals in American history.
- Directed Presidential campaigns of Kennedy, Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey.
- Hand-checking was eliminated and on-court violence was reduced during his career. NBA Championship trophy named in his honor (1984). President, Basketball Hall of Fame (1985-1987). Received Basketball Hall of Fame's John W. Bunn Award for outstanding contributions to basketball and athletics (1984).
- The Sporting News "Sportsman of the Year" (1976). Basketball Weekly "Man of the Year" (1976). Introduced salary cap (1983). Orchestrated the settlement of the Oscar Robertson lawsuit, creating a fair and equitable system of free agency for veterans.Established NBA College Scholarship program (1980). Reached a stringent anti-drug agreement with the NBA Players Association (1983). Oversaw the adoption of the three-point field goal in the NBA (1979).
- Enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as a contributor, in 1991.
- Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 667-671. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
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