He was admitted to the bar association in 1842 and commenced practice in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Rice enlisted to serve in the Mexican–American War in 1847 and was commissioned first lieutenant of Company A, First Regiment, Michigan Volunteers.

Rice continued to practice law until 1856, when he was elected commissioner of Ramsey County.

Incumbent Governor John Pillsbury defeated him and was elected to a third term.

His daughter Jessi married Frank Hamilton Clark, a president of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad and a member of the Clark banking family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.