A supporter of the Union, Fuller joined the Vermont Militia during the American Civil War, and remained affiliated with the organization until winning the governorship.

In the mid-1870s, he became the commander of an artillery battery he personally raised, equipped, and paid, which was later accepted into National Guard service.

[2] In 1856, he moved to Boston to become an apprentice machinist, and also worked as a telegrapher in order to pay for evening school studies in engineering and manufacturing.

[1] This venture proved successful, and Fuller became a well-known maker of mechanical wood planers and sewing machines.

[1] Fuller's additional business activities included serving as a director of the Brattleboro Savings Bank and the National Life Insurance Company.

[1] Fuller equipped and funded this unit until it was accepted into the Vermont National Guard in 1875 as Company C, 1st Regiment, which he commanded as a captain.

[1] He was president of the Vermont chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and a member of the Military Service Institution of the United States.

[1] Fuller was also an associate member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and belonged to Brattleboro's Sedgwick Post Number 8.

[1] During his senate term, he was chairman of the committee on finance, on which he took the lead in securing passage of a law to reform Vermont's tax code.

[1] He won the general election and served the single two-year term then available to Vermont governors under the party's "Mountain Rule".

[13] Active in the "good roads" movement of the late 19th century, Fuller's term was notable for the creation of Vermont's first statewide effort to regulate their construction and maintenance, the Board of Highway Commissioners.

[1] As governor, Fuller also oversaw Vermont's participation in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and traveled to Chicago to visit the state's exhibits.

[15][16] Fuller resided in a Victorian style mansion he called Pine Heights; the site was later redeveloped as the Eden Park Nursing Home.