Moore was born November 4, 1871, in San Juan Bautista, California, the son of George Augustine Moore of North Anson, Maine, and Edna Carr Moore of California. He earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a practicing attorney from 1902 to 1929. He was executive secretary of the Wilmington, California. Chamber of Commerce from 1931 to 1943 and also president of the Roman Forum organization. He was married on November 30, 1893, to Malvina Willson. Their children were Helen Moore, George Augustine Moore, Willson C. Moore, Isabelle Moore Yocum and Dr. Malvina Moore Taylor. Moore, 86, died September 16, 1958, in a Long Beach, California, convalescent hospital. Besides his wife and children, he left a brother, Winfield R. Moore of South Gate. Burial was in San Juan Bautista Cemetery.
Moore ran against the incumbent, Wilder W. Hartley, in 1943 in Los Angeles City Council District 15 and ousted him in the primary election. He was reelected in 1945, and his colleagues chose him as City Council president in July of that year. Moore was reelected to the council in 1947 and 1949 but was defeated in 1951 by John S. Gibson Jr. The 15th District included the Los Angeles Harbor area and the Shoestring Strip, with a portion of South Los Angeles as far north as Manchester Boulevard.
Positions
Harbor, 1945. Eugene Overton, president of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, clashed with Moore over charges by the latter that there had been "irregularities" in connection with the conduct of harbor affairs. Unions, 1947. Supporters of G. Vernon Bennett, backing Bennett for the council presidency, charged Moore with being dominated by the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and members of the rival American Federation of Labor leaped to defend Moore. Animals, 1950. Moore, along with Councilman George P. Cronk, led the opposition to repealing an ordinance that permitted medical experimentation with animals in the city shelter until military authorities and medical groups could be contacted for their opinion. He told the council:
We are in a war and when this ordinance was passed some months ago representatives of the military, including the Atomic Energy Commission, appeared before this body and favored animal experimentation. I am not going to vote for repeal until I hear from them.