Rublee returned to Milwaukee after finishing law school, becoming the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel political editor. Eventually he became the vice president and director.
Benjamin Harrison appointed him Consul General of the United States to Prague (then in Austria-Hungary) on June 6, 1890. He retired on November 9, 1893.
William McKinley and
Theodore Roosevelt appointed him
Consul General at Hong Kong (March 2, 1901), Havana, Cuba[3] (September 15, 1902), Vienna, Austria (March 26, 1903), and then again at Hong Kong (May 17, 1909).
Rublee died in Hong Kong at the age of 49 on April 15, 1910 of
peritonitis.[2][4][5] His remains were repatriated to Seattle, Washington on a steamer[6] and then taken to Madison, Wisconsin for burial.[7]