[7] Wightman was elected treasurer of the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1917, but resigned the following year after he entered into active military service.

[4][10] Shortly after his election, the USLTA passed a player-writer rule that prevented players from receiving monetary compensation for writing articles on tennis tournaments they were competing in.

The rule caused Vincent Richards and world's number 1 ranked player Bill Tilden to quit the Davis Cup team.

Your president believes that the player-writer interpretation of the foregoing provision is entirely sound, and furthermore that it is absolutely necessary if the game of tennis is to continue an amateur sport".

In 1925, Wightman, then the club's vice president, issued a statement deploring the rough tactics the B.A.A governing committee believed Fort Pitt Hornet players were allowed to employ in a game where B.A.A hockey player Leo Hughes lost an eye.

He served as chairman of the New England fundraising committee and was in charge of preparations for the 1928 United States Olympic track and field trials, which were held at Harvard Stadium.