He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses, holding office from January 4, 1916, to March 3, 1923.

Though his opponent Lathrop Brown contested the argument, arguing that some precinct captains were drunk and careless, he lost and Hicks retained his seat.

[4] He was not a candidate for renomination in 1922 and declined a diplomatic position to Uruguay tendered by President Warren Harding.

[citation needed] Hicks was eastern director of the Republican National Committee campaign in 1924, and was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge as a member of the commission to represent the United States at the celebration of the Centennial of the Battle of Aracucho, held at Lima, Peru, during December 1924.

[citation needed] He was appointed Alien Property Custodian on April 10, 1925, and served until his death in Washington, D.C., in 1925.