He served as mayor of Nashville, Illinois from 1878 to 1884, and was a delegate to all State and National Democratic Conventions from 1876 to 1896. He was a member of the
Illinois Senate from 1884 to 1888. Forman was elected as a
Democrat to the
Fifty-first,
Fifty-second, and
Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1889 - March 3, 1895). He served as chairman of the Committee on Militia during the Fifty-third Congress. Forman moved to
East St. Louis, Illinois in 1895, where he resumed practicing law. He was an unsuccessful candidate as a Gold Standard Democrat for election as governor in 1896. He was appointed by President
Grover Cleveland as
Commissioner of Internal Revenue and served from 1896 to 1897. Forman died in
Champaign, Illinois on June 10, 1908. He was interred in Masonic Cemetery,
Nashville, Illinois. ==References==