[3] In 1970, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic primary for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district, which was vacated by the death of Congressman William St. Onge,[4] but later withdrew from the race.

[8] Bennet succeeded John J. Gilligan as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development in 1979, where he served for two years.

[3] In 1993, President Bill Clinton named Bennet as assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, where he served until 1995.

The last several years of his twelve-year presidency were contentious in some respects, with opposition by a minority in the student body on certain matters.

[14] On March 26, 2007, Wesleyan's board of trustees announced that Michael S. Roth would succeed Bennet as president for the 2007–2008 academic year.