[2] Towards the end of World War I, he served overseas with the Tank Corps of the United States Army (1918–1919).

[1] Following his military service, Jordan returned to North Carolina and became a floor sweeper at Myrtle Textile Mill in Gastonia.

[1] Four years later, in 1927, he and his family purchased an abandoned textile mill in Saxapahaw, renaming it Sellars Manufacturing Company.

[1] In addition to working with his family's business, Jordan served as general manager, treasurer, and director of the Jordan Spinning Company near Franklinville, and held the same positions with the Royal Cotton Mill Company in Wake Forest.

On April 19, 1958, Jordan was appointed to the Senate by Governor Luther H. Hodges to fill the vacancy caused by Scott's death.

[7] Jordan supported research in medical science and agriculture, industrial uses of farm products, missile development, and space exploration.

Although he supported the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964, he later joined a majority of senators in calling for American forces to be brought home.

On May 29, 1972, Jordan escaped injury during a shooting while campaigning at Raleigh's North Hills Shopping Center, when 22-year-old Harvey Glenn McLeod opened fire from the parking lot with a Ruger 10/22 rifle, killing four people and injuring seven others before taking his own life.

[8] Jordan press aide Wes Hayden sustained critical injuries in the shooting;[9] he made a surprisingly swift recovery and returned to his office in just one month.