In 1958, Sanders ran for Texas's 5th congressional district, but lost in the general election to Republican incumbent Bruce Alger.

[4] In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Sanders United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, a position he held until 1965.

Sanders was, according to an interview,[5] tasked with finding Federal District Judge Sarah T. Hughes to administer the oath of office to Johnson: LBJ called Irving Goldberg from the plane and asked, "Who can swear me in?"

In 1968, Johnson nominated Sanders to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

He narrowly defeated former US Senator Ralph Yarborough in the Democratic primary runoff, but lost the general election to incumbent Republican John Tower.

During his tenure as a federal district judge, Sanders held many positions on committees related to the function of the judiciary.

[3] Though Sanders handled thousands of civil and criminal cases during his tenure as a federal judge, he is best known in Texas for his role as judge in the Tasby v. Estes litigation brought against the Dallas Independent School District in the 1970s, in which plaintiff Sam Tasby charged that the Dallas ISD was still a segregated school district.

The litigation began before Sanders became a federal judge, but he took over the case until its conclusion in 2003, and had oversight of many Dallas ISD activities related to racial balance until that time.

In September of that year, eighteen black students started first grade classes in what had been whites-only institutions.

Sam Tasby filed a lawsuit against Dallas ISD charging discrimination prohibited under Brown v. Board of Education on October 6, 1970.

The most controversial part of this plan centered around busing, and Judge Taylor held an additional hearing on the case.

After additional hearings, Sanders ruled that Dallas ISD continued to show signs of racial segregation, but concluded that busing would not solve the problem.

On January 9, 2003, a formal hearing was held to determine the legal status of the Dallas ISD.

Sanders offered no answer to any of the public questions but concluded the session by taking all comments into advisement.

[12] His son, Harold III, is a musician, composer, and owner of Barefoot Music whose best-known work is the theme to the reality TV competition series Top Chef.