A member of the Silver – Democratic coalition party,[1] he had previously held office as the 13th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 1907 to 1908.

Upon returning from his tour of duty as First Sergeant in 1899,[4] Dickerson moved to White Pine County, Nevada.

[6] While attending the Democratic State Convention in Reno as a young delegate, he discovered that no one was interested in running for the office.

[6] On October 11, 1906, Dickerson founded the Ely Mining Expositor as a weekly paper representing the interests of the Silver-Democratic political coalition.

The Ely Mining Expositor was helmed by various editors while Dickerson was in office and moved to daily publication by May 15, 1907.

[2] In 1910, former undefeated boxing champion James J. Jeffries sought to reclaim the heavyweight championship as the "great white hope" from African-American Jack Johnson.

[11] Dickerson was impressed by Johnson's boxing skills and pledged to provide an opportunity for a match in Nevada without racial prejudice.

[15] In 1913, Dickerson was appointed the Warden of Nevada State Prison in Carson City to replace George W. Cowing,[16] who had problems finding men willing to form a firing squad to execute convicted murderer Andriza Mircovich.

[20] Dickerson resigned on April 2, 1921,[21] when newly elected President Warren G. Harding announced that he would appoint his brother-in-law Heber Herbert Votaw to the office.

[10] The Dickersons had eight children:[24] Harvey, Norinne, June, Donald, Denver, Belford, Barbara and George.

[3] The younger Denver Dickerson would go on to become the Speaker of the Nevada Assembly in 1943 and was appointed Secretary of Guam in 1963 by President John F.