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Leadership Portrait — Frank Cortright
Frank Cortright was a key force in creating the Association, and during its first 10 years he served as its Executive Vice President. Not only did he shepherd the NAHB through a period of rapid growth, but he was also at the helm during World War II and later during the enactment of the GI Bill. He worked closely with both Presidents Roosevelt and Truman and their staffs to keep affordable housing a consistently high national priority. And when government was slow to move, he knew how to prod it to action, as he did in 1946, penning his very public Open Letter to Sergeant Brown, explaining why the returning veteran would have trouble finding a home and laying the blame squarely on the government.
Cortright oversaw the first NAHB convention, established the Research Institute (later called National Research Center), and
set the standard for communication with the membership through his weekly Washington Letter.
He characterized his service to NAHB as "my life's work — my primary reason for living" and it is clear reading his memoir, written 35 years after he was forced to retire due to contracting Guilliam Barre Syndrome, that he still considered NAHB to be the pinnacle of his career.
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