Through Pearl Carter Pace's activism in the Republican Party, she became a tireless supporter and friend of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1953, she brought national attention to Kentucky when President Eisenhower appointed her to the War Claims Commission (later the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission). Near the end of his administration, Eisenhower elevated her to the commission chairmanship, making Pearl Carter Pace the third highest ranking woman in his administration, next only to the Treasurer of the United States and the new position of United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the first Kentucky woman appointed by a president to a national post. Pace was active in the GOP for many years, including a stint from 1948 to 1957 as her state's Republican national committeewoman.