During the reign of King Kalākaua, Carter was Acting Commercial Agent for Japan and served two terms as representative in the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

[4] Governor Carter recalled being told by his uncle Joseph that after his birth in Honolulu, he and his mother Hannah accompanied Capt.

He served two terms with the House of Representatives in the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii, for sessions April 30 – July 29, 1872 and January 8 – 20, 1873.

[17] Carter managed Liliʻuokalani's personal real estate holdings and had been her friend and confidant for years before she ascended to the throne on January 29, 1891.

[20] Liliʻuokalani's proposed 1893 Constitution provoked protests, but Carter advised against her cabinet's suggestion of requesting American intervention to maintain civil order.

He prepared a proclamation signed by the Queen and her cabinet that promulgation of a new constitution had been abandoned,[21] but it was not enough to stave off the overthrow and installation of a provisional local government.

[24] President Grover Cleveland attempted a restoration of the monarchy, with the stipulation that Liliʻuokalani grant amnesty to everyone responsible.

[27] According to Boston author Julius A. Palmer Jr., Carter's loyalty to her resulted in his being voted out of his position at C. Brewer & Co.[28] The Queen was put on trial and under house arrest for her alleged part in the 1895 Robert Wilcox rebellion attempt to restore her to the throne.

[30] When she left Hawaii for the United States in December, seeing her off at Honolulu Harbor were Carter, on whose arm she leaned as she walked up the gangplank, Robert Wilcox, and her former Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Parker.

Newspaper coverage alleged he made the trip at the request of sugar plantation owner Claus Spreckels.

Liliʻuokalani spent the next several years unsuccessfully lobbying the government for return of the Crown Lands, during which she relied on Carter for legal consultation.

[15] Native Hawaiian politician John Adams Cummins, son of High Chiefess Kaumakaokane Papaliʻaiʻaina, made Carter trustee of his estate.