He was rejected for military service as medically unfit, but during the war worked for the Australian Red Cross as secretary of the local branch and area officer for Central Queensland.

[1] At the 1946 federal election, Pearce served on the campaign committee of Charles Davidson, who defeated former prime minister Frank Forde in the Division of Capricornia.

Pearce replaced him as the Liberal candidate in Capricornia, and retained the seat despite a swing to the Labor Party.

[4] The following year, he chaired the select committee into voting rights that reported that universal suffrage should be granted to Indigenous Australians.

It was formally launched on 1 June 1969, but suspended its operations after six weeks following active opposition from the Victorian and New South Wales state governments.