Means was elected commander-in-chief of the Army of the Philippines in 1913, and of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1914. He served during the First World War as a lieutenant colonel and commandant of the Fortieth Division School of Arms. He commanded the 4th Infantry in the Meuse–Argonne offensive. Means ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1920, losing the Republican nomination to Samuel D. Nicholson, who would go on to win the seat. He was attorney for the City and County of Denver in 1923 and 1924.