N. Eldon Tanner
Birth date9 May 1898
Birth placeSalt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Death date27 November 1982 (aged 84)
Death placeSalt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Resting placeSalt Lake City Cemetery
Resting place coordinates40°46′37.92″N 111°51′28.8″W
SpouseSara Isabelle Merrill (m. 1919)
Political office 1Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Cardston
Term start 122 August 1935
Term end 15 August 1952
Office predecessor 1George Stringam
Office successor 1Edgar Hinman
Political office 2Speaker of the Alberta Legislative Assembly
Term start 26 February 1936
Term end 24 January 1937
Office predecessor 2George Johnston
Office successor 2Peter Dawson
Political office 3Minister of Lands and Mines
Term start 35 January 1937
Term end 31 April 1949
Office predecessor 3Charles Ross
Premier 3William Aberhart and
Ernest Manning
Political office 4Minister of Forestry, Lands and Wildlife
Term start 41 April 1949
Term end 49 September 1952
Office predecessor 4Ivan Casey
Premier 4Ernest Manning
Political office 5Minister of Mines and Minerals
Term start 51 April 1949
Term end 59 September 1952
Office predecessor 5Ernest Manning
Premier 5Ernest Manning
PartySocial Credit
OccupationTeacher, Politician, Religious Leader
Position or quorum 1First Counselor in the First Presidency
Called by 1Spencer W. Kimball
Ordination reason 1Reorganization of First Presidency
Start date 130 December 1973
End date 127 November 1982
Position or quorum 2First Counselor in the First Presidency
Ordination reason 2Reorganization of First Presidency
Called by 2Harold B. Lee
Start date 27 July 1972
End date 226 December 1973
End reason 2Dissolution of First Presidency upon the death of Harold B. Lee
Position or quorum 3Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Called by 3Joseph Fielding Smith
Ordination reason 3Reorganization of First Presidency
Start date 323 January 1970
End date 32 July 1972
End reason 3Dissolution of First Presidency upon the death of Joseph Fielding Smith
Position or quorum 4Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Called by 4David O. McKay
Ordination reason 4Death of Henry D. Moyle
Start date 44 October 1963
End date 418 January 1970
End reason 4Dissolution of First Presidency upon the death of David O. McKay
Position or quorum 5Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Called by 5David O. McKay
Ordination reason 5Death of George Q. Morris
Start date 511 October 1962
End date 54 October 1963
Position or quorum 6LDS Church Apostle
Ordination reason 6Death of George Q. Morris
Called by 6David O. McKay
Start date 611 October 1962
End date 627 November 1982
Reorganization 6No apostles ordained [1]
Position or quorum 7Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Called by 7David O. McKay
Start date 78 October 1960
End date 711 October 1962
End reason 7Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
List notesMember (1935–52) of and Speaker (1936–37) of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Nephew of Hugh B. Brown.

Nathan Eldon Tanner (9 May 1898 – 27 November 1982) was a Canadian politician and a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1952 as a member of the Social Credit caucus in government. He served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1936 to 1937 and as a cabinet minister in the governments of William Aberhart and Ernest Manning from 1937 to 1952, in various portfolios related to resource industries.

Early life

Tanner was born on 9 May 1898, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Nathan William Tanner and Sarah Edna Brown Tanner. He had seven younger siblings.[2] His family emigrated to Canada and had a farmstead in Aetna, south of Cardston, Alberta, where he grew up and attended grade school. He attended high school at Knight Academy in Raymond and received some postsecondary education at Calgary Normal School.[3]

Tanner began his working life at a grocery store and butcher shop. He obtained a job teaching at a small school in Hill Spring in 1919. He met Sara Isabelle Merrill at the school and married her on 20 December 1919[3] and they became the parents of five daughters.[4]

Along with teaching, Tanner also established his own general store, which later also became the local post office, to supplement his family income. The store was successful enough that he left his first teaching job in Hill Spring to run the store full-time.[3]

Tanner eventually became a high school teacher[3] and school principal in Cardston.[2] He got his start in politics as a councillor on the Cardston Town Council.[3]

Political and business career

Tanner was drafted to run for a seat to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the first time in the 1935 general election. He ran as a Social Credit candidate in the electoral district of Cardston and defeated the incumbent United Farmers MLA George Stringam.[5]

After the election and despite his complete lack of parliamentary experience, Tanner was chosen to be fifth-ever Speaker of the Alberta Legislature when the first session of the 8th Alberta Legislative Assembly began. He served in that role until 5 January 1937, when Premier William Aberhart appointed Tanner the Minister of Lands and Mines.[6] His time in this capacity and as legislator spanned 16 years.[2]

In the 1940 general election, Tanner defeated the independent candidate S.H. Nelson in a two-way race.[7]

In the 1944 general election, Tanner won a three-way race.[8]

In the 1948 Alberta general election, Tanner easily won a two-way race over the Liberal candidate Briant Stringam to hold his seat.[9]

In 1949, Ernest Manning changed Tanner's ministerial portfolio from Lands and Mines to Lands and Forests. Tanner was also appointed Minister of Mines and Minerals and held both portfolios until his retirement from the Legislature at its dissolution in 1952.[citation needed]

In 1952 Tanner left politics and became president of Merrill Petroleums in Calgary. In 1954 Manning and federal Minister of Trade and Industry C. D. Howe asked him to become president of TransCanada PipeLines Limited. During Tanner's contract of five years, the TransCanada pipeline was built from Alberta to Montreal.[3]

LDS Church

In 1960, Tanner was called as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a full-time LDS Church general authority. He had previous experience in church leadership, having served as a bishop, branch president, and stake president in Canada.[2] In the church, he preferred to be referred to as "N. Eldon Tanner." In 1962, the death of George Q. Morris created a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,[citation needed] which Tanner was called to fill in October 1962.[2] He was still the quorum's junior member one year later when he was called into the First Presidency as second counselor to church president David O. McKay. Tanner remained in that position for the church presidency of Joseph Fielding Smith (1970–1972) and then became first counselor to Smith's successor, Harold B. Lee and later to Spencer W. Kimball until Tanner's death.[citation needed] He thus served as counselor to four church presidents. While Tanner was a member of the First Presidency, the membership numbers of the church grew from 1.7 million to 5 million.[2]

As the First Presidency, Kimball, Tanner, and Marion G. Romney announced the reception of the Revelation on Priesthood in June 1978, which established that being of black African descent would no longer be a barrier to ordination to the church's priesthood. The announcement was canonized as "Official Declaration 2" in the church's Doctrine and Covenants. Tanner formally presented the announcement for acceptance by the church at a general conference in October 1978.[10]

Not long afterward, Tanner's health deteriorated, and it became impossible for him to continue the duties of his office. Kimball and Romney were also ailing, and the decision was made to add Gordon B. Hinckley as an additional counselor to the First Presidency on 23 July 1981, with Neal A. Maxwell ordained to take Hinckley's seat in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Tanner remained first counselor until his death on 27 November 1982, at the age of 84. Because of the appointments of Maxwell and Hinckley the prior year, no additional individuals were added to the First Presidency and no apostles were ordained as a result of his death.

Notes

  1. ^ Due to Gordon B. Hinckley's call as an additional counselor and the addition of Neal A. Maxwell to the Quorum a year earlier.
  2. ^ McCune, George M. (1991). Personalities in the Doctrine and Covenants and Joseph Smith–History. Salt Lake City, Utah: Hawkes Publishing. p. 136. ISBN 9780890365182.
  3. ^ Hugh B. Brown (November 1972). "President N. Eldon Tanner: A Man of Integrity". Ensign. LDS Church. p. 13.
  4. ^ Flake, Lawrence R. (2001). Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University. pp. 223–28.
  5. ^ "Cardston Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  6. ^ "Vignettes from the Assembly's History". 16 May 2006. p. 1593. Archived 2023-07-01 at the Wayback Machine. Nathan Eldon Tanner, the Member for Cardston and representing the Social Credit Party, became the fifth Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1936. He presided over only 46 sitting days and 333 calendar days, the shortest tenure of any Speaker, before being appointed as minister of lands and mines. He is thought to be the first member of the Mormon faith to serve as Speaker in the British Commonwealth.
  7. ^ "Cardston Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  8. ^ "Cardston Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  9. ^ "Cardston Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  10. ^ N. Eldon Tanner, "Revelation on Priesthood Accepted, Church Officers Sustained", Ensign, November 1978.

References