This article traces the history of policy development in Native American education from the second term of President William J. Clinton and his signing of Executive Order 13096 of August 6, 1998 on American Indian/Alaska Native education, through the passage and implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and initial consideration of its reauthorization in the twilight of the presidency of George W. Bush. The article describes the interaction of political action, research, and policy development under the umbrella of the growing political influence of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) to the successful passage of the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act and preparation for reauthorization of NCLB. The analysis provides a unique perspective of the implementation of NCLB with American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students through a personal narrative of those years by the author, who served in key positions within the federal government and NIEA. Throughout this period, a research agenda in American Indian/Alaska Native education evolved with a focus on the role of Native languages and cultures in Native American education. With the passage of NCLB, that role was threatened despite the plain language of Title VII in NCLB and the pronouncements of President Bush's American Indian/Alaska Native education executive order. This threat was blunted by a significant effort on the part of NIEA to protect the keystone of post-Meriam federal Indian education reforms: the foregrounding of Native languages and cultures in the education of Native students. Symbolic to this effort and foundational for future efforts was the 2006 passage of the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act in a Republican-controlled Congress and its signing by President Bush.