George Tucker

Who was George Tucker?

George Tucker was a United States attorney, author, educator and politician. His literary works include the first fiction of colonial life in Virginia and another which is one of America's earliest science fictions. Tucker also published the first comprehensive biography of Thomas Jefferson, as well as a history of the United States. He immigrated from Bermuda, was educated at the College of William and Mary and admitted to the Virginia bar. He was elected in 1816 to the Virginia House of Delegates for one term, and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1819 to 1825. From Tucker's youth until early middle age, his lofty social lifestyle was often profligate, and briefly became scandalous. Nevertheless, upon completion of his Congressional term, he accepted an appointment by Thomas Jefferson to serve as Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia and continued in that post until 1845. He then relocated to Philadelphia and continued to produce research and publications on a variety of topics, including socio-economics and monetary policy.