As chief executive of Citibank / Citicorp (later Citigroup) from 1967 to 1984, Wriston was widely regarded as the single most influential commercial banker of his time.

[4][5] With then New York Governor Hugh Carey and investment banker Felix Rohatyn, Wriston helped save New York City from bankruptcy in the mid-1970s by setting up the Financial Control Board and the Municipal Assistance Corporation, and persuading the city's union pension funds and banks to buy the latter corporation's bonds.

While there, he was a member of the Eclectic Society and received the "Parker Prize" ("Awarded to a sophomore or junior who excels in public speaking"[9]).

[14] In June 2004, Wriston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil honor, by President George W. Bush.

Wriston's papers, including the text of hundreds of speeches and articles spanning his lengthy career, are at Tufts University's Archives.