Born in Springfield, Missouri, Gibson was a sergeant in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946.

Gibson was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on July 9, 1981, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri vacated by Judge Elmo Bolton Hunter.

Confirmed by the United States Senate on September 16, 1981, Gibson received his commission three days later.

On February 2, 1982, Gibson was nominated by Reagan to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that had been vacated by Judge Floyd Robert Gibson, who had assumed senior status.

Reagan initially had brought forth the name of Hallmark Cards associate general counsel Judith Whittaker (born June 12, 1938) as a nominee to replace Floyd Gibson.