Upon graduation from college, he was commissioned as an officer in the Navy and was injured during an aviation training crash on a flying boat in Newport News, Virginia,[1] resulting in the loss of a leg.

He succeeded Henry Parkman Jr. in the then-strongly Republican fifth ward, which includes the wealthy Back Bay and Beacon Hill neighborhoods.

[2][3] However, Curtis lost re-election to Hurley in the historic wave election of 1948, when the Democratic Party swept all six state offices.

He won the nomination relatively easily with 46% of the vote over a five-man field, including anti-communist activist Robert W. Welch Jr. and State Senator Harris S.

[7] In 1952, Curtis initially sought election as Governor, calling for a "wholesale clean-up of conditions at the State House that have destroyed the hope of a square deal for Massachusetts citizens.

[11] In 1962, he declined to run for a sixth term in favor of seeking the United States Senate seat left vacant by John F. Kennedy's election to the White House.