In his youth he worked as a tenant farmer but began to seriously educate himself in local schools at the age of 17.
In 1930 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, winning against Republican O. O. Owens in a landslide.
Upon his retirement he moved to Portland, Oregon briefly to practice law and then came back to Oklahoma City.
He ran unsuccessfully for the Democrat nomination in 1950 for the unexpired portion of the senate seat he had previously held.
He died there unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack on December 14, 1950, and was buried in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.