Wood was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1846 to the Thirtieth Congress. He served as president of the Young Men's Temperance Society in 1851. He also served as trustee of Union College, Williams College, and the Albany Law School, and was vice president of the Albany Medical College.
