Joining the Army at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester, Vermont, Harris served in France and attained the rank of Corporal before being discharged at Fort Devens, Massachusetts in April 1919.
[3] In 1923 Harris joined Montpelier's Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
[4] He rose through the executive ranks as special agent, adjuster, secretary and treasurer, and became the company's President in 1938.
[7][8] Harris was also a Vice President and member of the board of directors of the Montpelier Savings and Trust Company.
In 1965 he was elected Majority Leader, the first time Vermont's House Republicans formally appointed an official spokesman.