He succeeded Ames, but his bid for reelection in 1891 was ended by strict enforcement of restrictive liquor laws, and by the negative economic effects on the state of the McKinley Tariff.

[9] As Speaker, he had to manage a highly contentious debate, including an attempted filibuster, of a bill creating a metropolitan Boston police force.

For significant portions of 1888 and 1889 Brackett served as acting governor due to Ames's illness, notably representing the state in that capacity at the celebration of the centennial of Ohio's settlement, and at the dedication of the Pilgrim Monument at Plymouth.

He won the party nomination by bypassing its main power brokers, Senators Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar and Henry L. Dawes, engaging instead in local ward level politicking.

[13] During his year in office, Brackett continued his advocacy of cooperative banks, securing legislation exempting their stock from state taxes.

[15] The West End also did not immediately begin active use the charter, in part because of questions of high liability in the city's crowded business district, and over the suitability of extant elevated rail technology in Boston's geography.

[16] Brackett's term in office marked a low point in the state Republican party, and he was described by historian Richard Harmond as "pliable and mediocre".

[19] There was a popular backlash, and Republican appeals to anti-Catholic nativist sentiment also drove many French-Canadian Catholic supporters into the Democratic fold.

[24] He refused to run for governor in 1891 against the popular Russell,[25] in 1892 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and he served as a presidential elector in 1896 and 1900.