Bolton was commissioned as a captain in the Reserve Corps, and then was ordered into active service in March 1917, in World War I.

He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and detailed to the One Hundred and First Division as Assistant Chief of Staff, and was discharged in December 1918.

Bolton was elected as a Republican congressman representing Ohio's 22nd congressional district to the Seventy-first and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from 1929 until 1937.

Bolton was elected to the Seventy-sixth Congress, again representing the 22nd district, serving from January 3, 1939, until his death in October 1939.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress