From January 1916 to November 1918 he served as finance minister of the Grand Duchy of Hesse.
He then joined the civil service of the Grand Duchy of Hesse where he advanced rapidly.
From 1920 to 1930, Becker was a member of the Reichstag for the German People's Party (DVP).
[1] On the suggestion of Gustav Stresemann and Rudolf Heinze, Becker was made Reichswirtschaftsminister (minister of economics) when the cabinet of Wilhelm Cuno was formed in November 1922.
[1] During the Occupation of the Ruhr, he remained a supporter of "passive resistance" against the French and Belgian occupation forces until the end, even as it caused the German economy to spiral downward and inflation to accelerate.