Ruth Harkin was elected county attorney of Story County, Iowa, in 1973 and served until 1979. From 1979 to 1981, she served as a deputy counsel for the United States Department of Agriculture prior to joining the Washington law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP in 1983. In 1993, President Bill Clinton named her Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Harkin left the government and became Senior Vice President for international affairs and government relations of United Technologies in April 1997. In 2002, she became a Director of ConocoPhillips. Harkin was a member of the Iowa Board of Regents from 2005 to 2015. She was inducted in to the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 2018.