[2] Immediately after graduating from college, Wright began working as a junior high school teacher.
Late in 1944, Wright led a convoy of vehicles and personnel from Lisbon to Paris to bring reinforcements to the newly reopened embassy, while the fighting was still going on.
Wright returned to Paris for a short time as the cultural attaché in 1967 and stayed until 1969, but decided once again to teach at Stanford University.
He was an Associate Dean of Humanities and Sciences from 1970 to 1973, held the William H. Bonsall Professorship of History from 1970 until 1977, served on the Faculty Senate for more than five years, and received the Dinkelspiel award for service to undergraduate education in 1975.
He was known to be a reserved and modest person, so much so that his colleagues planned his retirement event to honor his accomplishments in secret.
[5] Wright was well known for promoting what he termed moral science, which was also the theme of his presidential address in an annual meeting of the American Historical Association in 1975.
[6] Wright believed that data-driven, morally neutral interpretations of history were breaking the field's connection to humanity: "True, we have clothed our conduct in attractive garb: we speak of detachment, open-mindedness, tolerance, understanding.
Are modern wars purely destructive, or are they locomotives of history, that speed up technological development and social change?
My role in all this is to set the agenda and then to prod and provoke when necessary – definitely not to hand down obiter dicta.Though his belief in moral science has not been adopted by the greater community of historians, he retains the respected reputation that he enjoyed among his contemporaries.