After his high school graduation, Risenhoover worked for Western Electric for three years before enlisting in the United States Air Force for an eight-year stint from 1955 to 1963.

Two years later he received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Known for his crime-fighting efforts, he charged that organized crime had infiltrated northeastern Oklahoma, and the Pictorial Press was bombed.

[2] As a Democrat, Risenhoover was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district, assuming office on January 3, 1975.

He served two terms in the House, then lost the 1978 Democratic nomination for his seat to Mike Synar after The Washington Post ran a lifestyle article about Risenhoover that mentioned he slept on a "heart shaped waterbed" and the Synar campaign seized the opportunity to question the incumbent's judgement by printing and widely distributing copies of the controversial news article.