John Randolph Tucker (politician)

For other people with the same name, seeJohn Tucker.

John Randolph Tucker
Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus
In office March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1887
Speaker	John G. Carlisle
Preceded by	George W. Geddes
Succeeded by	Samuel S. Cox
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1887
Preceded by	Thomas Whitehead(1875) District reestablished(1885)
Succeeded by	John W. Daniel(1885) Jacob Yost(1887)
Constituency	6th district(1875–1885) 10th district(1885–1887)
Chairman of theCommittee on the Judiciary
In office March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887
Preceded by	Thomas Brackett Reed
Succeeded by	David B. Culberson
Chairman of theCommittee on Ways and Means
In office 1881
Preceded by	Fernando Wood
Succeeded by	William D. Kelley
8thAttorney General of Virginia
In office June 13, 1857 – May 9, 1865 Contested withJames S. Wheat: June 21, 1861 – December 7, 1863 Contested withThomas Russell Bowden: December 7, 1863 – May 6, 1865
Governor	Henry A. Wise John Letcher William Smith
Preceded by	Willis P. Bocock
Succeeded by	Thomas Russell Bowden
Personal details
Born	December 24, 1823 Winchester, Virginia,U.S.
Died	February 13, 1897(1897-02-13)(aged 73) Lexington, Virginia,U.S.
Resting place	Mount Hebron Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Laura Holmes Powell Tucker
Children	Henry St. George Tucker
Profession	Lawyer politician professor

John Randolph Tucker(December 24, 1823 – February 13, 1897) was an American lawyer, author, and politician fromVirginia.From a distinguished family, he was elected Virginia's attorney general in 1857 and after re-election served during theAmerican Civil War(James S. Wheatserved as attorney general in Union-held portions of the state). After a pardon andCongressional Reconstruction,Tucker was elected as U.S. Congressman (1875-1887), and later served as the first dean of theWashington and Lee University Law School.

Early life and family

Tucker was born inWinchester, Virginiaon Christmas Eve in 1823, the son of Anna Evalina Hunter Tucker (1789-1855) and her husband JudgeHenry St. George Tucker(1780-1848). A grandson ofSt. George Tucker,J.R. Tucker would become proud of his heritage among theFirst Families of Virginia.His father and many relatives owned plantations and enslaved persons. Nonetheless, several of his siblings never reached adulthood. His brothers Dr. Alfred Bland Tucker (1830-1862) and Lt.Col. St. George Hunter Tucker (1828-1863) would die of consumption while in theConfederate States Army;his brother Dr.David Hunter Tucker(1815-1871) became a professor at three medical schools including theMedical College of Virginiaand survived his Confederate service. His brotherNathaniel Beverley Tucker(1820-1890) would become a Confederate diplomat and later a journalist.

John Randolph Tucker attended a private school near his Winchester home, then entered the Richmond Academy. He finished his studies at theUniversity of Virginia,graduating with a legal degree in 1844.

He married Laura Powell in 1848. They had one son who survived to adulthood,Henry St. George Tucker, III(who later became a U.S. Congressman). Their daughters who married well and survived their parents included: Anne Holmes Tucker McGuire (1850 - 1914), Gertrude Tucker Logan (1856 - 1925), and Laura Randolph Tucker Pendleton (1860 - 1946).

Early legal and political career

John Randolph Tucker was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1845, and began a private legal practice inWinchester.In 1854 he delivered a major speech to the literary societies atCollege of William and Marywhich argued that slavery was consistent with republicanism. He also became active in politics and was a presidential elector on theDemocraticticket in 1852 and 1856.

American Civil War

Voters elected TuckerAttorney Generalof theCommonwealth of Virginiain 1857, and he served during theAmerican Civil War,until the Commonwealth surrendered to Union forces in 1865. His siblings also actively supported theConfederatecause, two as Confederate doctors, Nathaniel Beverley Tucker as a Confederate diplomat, and his lawyer brother St. George Hunter Tucker recruited the Ashland Grays (part of the15th Virginia Infantry) and served at Lt. Col., winning plaudits for his conduct at theBattle of Malvern Hillbefore resigning his commission and dying of consumption in Charlottesville in 1863.

Postwar legal and political career

Tucker received a pardon and resumed his private legal practice.

Elected to theUnited States House of Representativesas a Democrat in 1875, he served until 1887. He was chairman of theHouse Committee on Ways and Meansin the46th Congressand chairman of theHouse Committee on the Judiciaryin the48thand49thCongresses.

He took an active part in the debates on thetariff,in opposition to the protective policy. His speeches on other questions include those on theElectoral Commissionbill, the constitutional doctrine as to the presidential count, the Hawaiian treaty in 1876, the use of the army at the polls, in 1879, and Chinese emigration, in 1883. He introduced legislation broadening the power of the federalCourt of Claimsto hear Constitutional claims in 1886, which became known as theTucker Act.He declined to be renominated to the House in 1886. He was co-sponsor of the 1887Edmunds–Tucker Act.

Tucker was an exemplar of the racist views of his day. Speaking on the House floor, he asserted that “We did not ordain and establish this Constitution for the Chinaman and for all the other races of the earth.... I hold that this Constitution was ordained and established by our fathers for their posterity of the Caucasian people of America.”Not surprisingly, he was also not supportive of the post-Civil War push to grant rights to African Americans, declaring that “... there is not a philosophical statesman in this land who to-day does not say either that the citizenship and the voting power of the African race in the South is a failure--either that or that it is an unsolved problem of our future. We have that one disease in the body-politic, which God grant we may recover from.”

Electoral history

• 1874 — Tucker was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 65.23% of the vote, defeating RepublicanJ. Foote Johnson.
• 1876 — Tucker was re-elected with 59.61% of the vote, defeating RepublicanGeorge H. Burch.
• 1878 — Tucker was re-elected with 63.42% of the vote, defeating Independent DemocratCamm Pattersonand IndependentLewis W. Cabell.
• 1880 — Tucker was re-elected with 59.56% of the vote, defeating ReadjusterJames A. Frazierand RepublicanDavid J. Woodfin.
• 1882 — Tucker was re-elected with 54.95% of the vote, defeating ReadjusterHenry J. Rivesand Republican Woodfin.
• 1884 — Tucker was re-elected, but toVirginia's 10th congressional district

Tucker made an unsuccessful but legally influential argument on behalf ofAugust Spiesand the otherHaymarket Riotdefendants during their appeal to theSupreme Court.ElectedprofessorofConstitutional lawatWashington and Lee Universityin 1888, Tucker wasDeanof theSchool of Lawfrom 1893 to 1897. Tucker served as president of TheVirginia Bar Associationin 1891–1892, and president of theAmerican Bar Associationin 1894. He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Societyin 1895.

Death and legacy

Tucker died in 1897 inLexington, Virginiaand is buried in the family plot atMount Hebron Cemeteryin Winchester. His widow died in 1916. Tucker's two volume treatise,The Constitution of the United States,appeared posthumously in 1899. One of his sons, Henry St. George Tucker, also became dean of the Washington and Lee Law School, and later a U.S. Congressman representing Winchester. His Lexington home,Blandome,was listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin 2002.

Works

• Race Progress in the United States, by J. R. Tucker,The North American review./ Volume 138, Issue 327 (February, 1884) pp. 163-178
• The History of the Federal Convention of 1787, and of its work, by J. Randolph Tucker,New Englander and Yale review/ Volume 47, Issue 209 (August, 1887) pp. 97-147.
• Virginia in the Supreme Court, by J. Randolph Tucker,The North American review/ Volume 146, Issue 379 (June, 1888) pp. 674-681.
• Tucker, John Randolph (1981). Henry St. George Tucker (ed.).The Constitution of the United States: a critical discussion of its genesis, development, and interpretation.Littleton, Colo.: F.B. Rothman, Reprint. Originally published: Chicago: Callaghan, 1899.ISBN0-8377-1206-8.

References

• Davis, John W.(1952). "John Randolph Tucker: The Man and His Work".John Randolph Tucker Lectures.Lexington, Virginia: Washington & Lee University.
• Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J.,eds. (1889)."Tucker, Thomas Tudor".Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.New York: D. Appleton.

External links

• Media related toJohn Randolph Tucker (politician)at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or aboutJohn Randolph TuckeratWikisource