During that period, he led the General Accounting Office in addressing the savings and loan crisis and other major issues.

He also served as the 5th Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration from 1967 to 1971.

[3] Bowsher was nominated to serve as United States Comptroller General by President Ronald Reagan in July 1981, succeeding Elmer B.

[3] During his tenure, he was subject of the lawsuit Bowsher v. Synar, which led to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1986.

He was especially critical of manoeuvres by the US Congress to reduce oversight of the savings and loans industry, stating that "this is a huge scandal and to a large extent it was allowed to grow because of the way this town does business".

[4] Bowsher was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1996, along with William Henry Beaver and Donald James Kirk.