Tanner was born on May 9, 1898, in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 post-secondary education at Calgary Normal School. 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 December 20, 1919 and they became the parents of five daughters. 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. Tanner eventually became a high school teacher in Cardston. He got his start in politics as a councillor on Cardston Town Council.
Political 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 incumbent United Farmers MLA George Stringam. After the election, and despite his complete lack of parliamentary experience, Tanner was chosen to be Speaker of the Alberta Legislature when the first session of the 8th Alberta Legislative Assembly began. He served in that role until January 5, 1937 when the Premier, William Aberhart, appointed Tanner the Minister of Lands and Mines. In the 1940 general election, Tanner defeated independent candidate S.H. Nelson in a two-way race. In the 1944 general election, Tanner won a three-way race. In the 1948 Alberta general election, Tanner easily won a two-way race over Liberal candidate Briant Stringam to hold his seat. In 1949, Premier Manning changed Tanner's ministerial portfolio from Lands and Mines to Lands and Forests. Tanner was also appointed Minister of Mines and Minerals. He held both portfolios until his retirement from the Legislature at dissolution in 1952.
Life in the LDS Church
In 1960, Tanner was called as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a full-time LDS Church general authority. 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, which Tanner was called to fill in October 1962. 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 this position for the presidency of Joseph Fielding Smith, and then became first counselor to Smith's successor, Harold B. Lee, and later to Spencer W. Kimball until Tanner's death. 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. Not long afterward, Tanner's health deteriorated and it became impossible for him to continue the duties of his office. With Kimball and Romney also ailing, the decision was made to add Gordon B. Hinckley as an additional counselor to the First Presidency on July 23, 1981. Tanner remained first counselor until his death on November 27, 1982 at age 84. Due to Hinckley's appointment the prior year, no additional individuals were added to the First Presidency after Tanner's death, nor were there any apostles ordained as a result of his death.
