He served as a minister in the United Brethren Church in Omaha from 1900 to 1913. He moved to York, Nebraska, in 1913 becoming president of York College until 1918. In 1918 he ran for the Sixty-sixth congress as a Republican representing the 4th district of Nebraska. He won the election and was reelected three more times serving from March 4, 1919, to March 3, 1927. He ran and lost in 1926 for the 70th congress. Afterwards he engaged in mining and investments. He died in York on June 18, 1928, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.