He was most noted for being a US Representative influential in attempting to impeach President Andrew Johnson, creating the United States Department of Justice, helping to create the American Red Cross, and ratifying the Geneva Convention.

[6] Lawrence was appointed a judge of the Union County Court of Common Pleas.

[7] In 1862, Lawrence entered the Union Army as colonel of the 84th Ohio Infantry, a three-month regiment.

[2] Lawrence supported the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating in an 1866 speech that it would "protect every citizen, including the millions of people of foreign birth who will flock to our shores to become citizens and to find here a land of liberty and law.

"[8] In 1866, Lawrence introduced a bill creating the Territory of Lincoln from the land that is now Oklahoma.

On February 19, 1868, Lawrence authored the bill that ultimately created the United States Department of Justice.

Representative Thomas Jenckes of Rhode Island introduced a bill to create the Department of Justice on February 25, 1870.

On June 22, 1870, President Ulysses Grant signed this second bill into law, creating the Department of Justice.

[15] Lawrence was appointed by President Rutherford B Hayes in 1880 to serve as the First Comptroller of the Treasury, a post he held until 1885.

Lawrence then appealed on behalf of Clara Barton to Hayes' successor, James Garfield, to support the creation of the American Red Cross on May 21, 1881.

[5][16] Lawrence and Barton were also instrumental in persuading the United States to ratify the Geneva Convention in 1882.