He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received his PhD from Duke University.He is the son of former Virginia Governor A. Linwood Holton Jr., the brother of former Virginia First Lady Anne Holton, and the brother-in-law of Anne's husband, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.

Holton spent the 2008-2009 academic year on sabbatical preparing this study of the life of First Lady Abigail Adams. The book focuses extensively on the role of creditors and bond speculators in the creation of the United States Constitution, by examining the financial savvy of one of America's earliest and most aggressive female investors.

In 1990, Prof. Holton created Clean Up Congress (CUC), a non-profit, political action committee. In 1994 CUC waged a bipartisan campaign to defeat Oliver North's 1994 bid for Virginia's Senate seat (North lost by 3% of the vote).

In 1981-1983, during terms, he served as a legislative aide in the Virginia General Assembly, working for Hon. Robert T. Andrews (R-McLean). As an aide, characterized in the Washington Post as an energetic "young tiger," he helped Delegate Andrews to draft and pass Virginia's first child safety seat law, changes to the Alcohol Safety Action Program (ASAP) for post-conviction referral, and other legislation and acts benefiting the Commonwealth.