After the war, he resumed his law practice in Fayette and was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-third and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from 1873 until 1883. He was Chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Forty-fourth Congress). Clark was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1882, but stayed in Washington, D.C. as the Clerk of the House of Representatives from 1883 until 1889, when he retired from politics.
He engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C. until his death in that city. He was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.