After studying law at the University of Virginia, Robinson returned to Arkansas, winning election to the Arkansas General Assembly. He won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1903 to 1913. He won election as Governor of Arkansas in 1912, but resigned from that position in 1913 to take a seat in the Senate. In the Senate, Robinson established himself as a progressive and strong supporter of President Woodrow Wilson. Robinson served as the chairman of the 1920 Democratic National Convention and won election as the Senate Minority Leader in 1923. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1924 election and was nominated as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1928. The Democratic ticket of Al Smith and Robinson lost in a landslide to the Republican ticket of Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis.