She was the first Finnish woman to serve as Ambassador in Oslo from 1958 to 1966 and as Envoy to ReykjavÃk in 1958–1964 (Ambassador 1964–1965) and the first Nordic woman, who led the government when she served as Deputy Prime Minister for Reino Kuuskoski in 1958.
Leivo-Larsson was Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Social Affairs in 1948–1950 at the Fagerholm I, Törngren and Kekkonen V 1954–1956 and in 1958 in Kuuskoski and Fagerholm II Governments as Social Minister in 1954–1954 and 1956–1957.
She was first elected to the Parliament from the Social Democratic Party in 1948–1958 and then as a member of the Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders party for the years 1966–1970.
During this time she was chairman of the Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders Parliamentary Group.