Few members of Congress in American history were more consistent in opposing US foreign interventionism, despite not believing himself to be an isolationist and voting in favor of declaring war on Japan after the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

In the early 20th century, he set up a dental practice and was elected president of the village council of Glenwood in neighboring Pope County.

He blamed these interventions on the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine of 1905, which had turned the United States into an arrogant "policeman of the western continent."

He argued that high tariffs "raise prices to consumers" and make "monopolies richer and people poorer."

Along with Congressman Robert Luce of Massachusetts, he introduced the bill that enlarged the purview of the United States Commission of Fine Arts to include new buildings on private land facing federal property.

The commission, established in 1910, reviews new buildings, memorials, monuments, and public art constructed on federal property in Washington, D.C.

Shipstead was an outspoken ally of Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, and he trafficked in anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, as well as straightforward bigotry against Jewish people.

Shipstead said he believed that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were fact, and he frequently encouraged other people to read them.

Although Shipstead voted for the declaration of war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he still maintained his independence from Roosevelt.