After unsuccessful attempts to run for higher office and surviving efforts by the New York State Legislature to remove him through unfavorable redistricting, Stratton settled into a long career as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee.

[3][1] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester in 1937, was a captain of the swim team, and joined Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Upsilon.

[3] Commissioned an ensign, he served in the South West Pacific Area during World War II as a combat intelligence officer on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur.

[3] Twice awarded the Bronze Star with Valor device, Stratton's service was notable for his interrogation of Tomoyuki Yamashita, who was later executed for his part in the Manila massacre.

[3] His television career included appearances as the children's character Sagebrush Sam, which required dressing as a cowboy and playing a harmonica.

Stratton consistently succeeded at winning reelection by appealing to conservative voters and supporting defense spending in his district, which included General Electric manufacturing plants and the Watervliet Arsenal.

[3][7] The state legislature gave up in the 1970s round of redistricting, and placed Stratton's home into a heavily Democratic seat including the heart of the Capital District.

[3][7] In 1962, Stratton was a candidate for Governor of New York; Robert M. Morgenthau won the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election to incumbent Nelson A.

[3] Stratton was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in 1964, hoping to challenge incumbent Kenneth Keating, but he was defeated by Robert F. Kennedy, who went on to win the election.

[9] He was a proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment,[10] and also introduced successful legislation, as a rider to the 1975 defense appropriations bill, which mandated the admission of women to the service academies.

[15] Despite this minor controversy, McNulty obtained the Democratic nomination unopposed and went on to easily win the general election;[16] Stratton retired at the end of his final term in January 1989.

[20] The 1998 film The Pentagon Wars includes a scene in which Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger fields a phone call from an unseen and unheard Stratton about the procurement of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

[21] After deflecting Stratton's concerns, Weinberger directs his subordinates to complete their investigation of the Bradley's field testing quickly and brief him on the results so he will not be surprised by more calls from members of Congress.