After the Civil War, he became a congressman in the United States House of Representatives. There, he became chairman of the Committee on Invalid Pensions. He was elected Governor of Wisconsin as a Republican in 1882. His most noted act during his governorship was when he sent the National Guard into Milwaukee to keep the peace during the May Day Labor Strikes of 1886. This led to the Bay View Tragedy, in which a number of workers were killed; Governor Rusk took most of the blame.