In 1941, during World War II, Larson moved to Washington, DC, when he mostly worked as a lumber industry regulator at the Office of Price Administration.
Larson's status as an expert on the welfare state and his strong public speaking abilities led to appointment as Under Secretary of Labor in March 1954 in the Eisenhower administration.
Eisenhower named Larson the director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) in December 1956 and as his top speechwriter in October 1957.
1973 saw the completion of the L. Arthur and Florence Larson Residence, a centerpiece of North Carolina modernist architecture designed by Jon Condoret.
However, his life and work are treated at length in a biography by David Stebenne, Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years (Indiana University Press, 2006).