In the period from 1958 to 1959 he was State Secretary of the economy.
In 1959, Cravatte was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, the Luxembourg parliament.
In 1964 he became Vice President of Government and Minister of Internal Affairs.
After the founding of the Social Democratic Party, he resigned as president on 3 May 1970 and joined the newly formed party.
From 1968 Cravatte was elected to the Chamber every five years until 1978.
Cravatte was Deputy Prime Minister from 1964 until 1969, and also served as President of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party.
He was President of the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe from 1962 to 1964 and again from 1976 to 1978.
On March 14, 1971, he became president of the Labor Party.
He retained this post until 1980.
On November 4, 1990 Henry Cravatte died at the age of 79 years in Ettelbrück.