King was Attorney General from 1904 until 1912, and Secretary of State of Liberia from 1912 until he was elected president in 1919. In this capacity, he attended the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and the accompanying First Pan-African Congress. Though a moderate supporter of reform, he continued to support the patronage machine and dominance of the True Whig Party. In 1927, he won the presidential election with over 15 times more votes than there were electors, but a forced labor and slavery scandal forced his resignation in 1930.