Prosecuting Attorney for the Sixth Judicial District
Position held: 1971-1973
Appointed or elected: Elected
Term duration: 2 years
Terms served: 1
At age 27, Tucker was elected as one of Arkansas's youngest prosecuting attorneys. As prosecuting attorney for Arkansas's largest judicial district, including Pulaski and Perry Counties, Tucker transformed the office. He made the office a full-time, 24-hour position with 11 deputy attorneys. Tucker reduced court backlog from one year to 90 days. While prosecuting attorney, Tucker conducted investigations into:
- Gambling
- Prostitution
- Police Corruption
- Pollution
Tuckers experience as a prosecuting attorney led him to become attorney general. Read more about Tucker's early political days here.
Attorney General
Position held: January 9, 1973-1977
Appointed or elected: Elected
Term duration: 2 years
Terms served: 2
As with the office of prosecuting attorney, Tucker was again one of the youngest, at age 30, to obtain this position in Arkansas. As the state's top law enforcement officer and consumer advocate, Tucker made Arkansas's Consumer Protection Division one of the most active and effective of such programs in the nation.
- Created full time Criminal Justice Division, in which he worked updating criminal laws
- Served as co-sponser of the Arkansas Criminal Code Revision
- Fought for better rates with the Public Service Commission, the Federal Energy Administration
- Worked in environmental areas, curbing pollution to Arkansas's waterways
- Undertook reforms to Arkansas prisons
Tucker left the position of attorney general when elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Learn more about Attorney General Tucker here.
U.S. House of Representatives, Representative of the Second Congressional District
Position held: January 3, 1977 - January 3, 1979
Appointed or elected: Elected by district
Term duration: 2 years
Terms served: 1
At age 34, Tucker became Representative of Arkansas's 2nd Congressional District, which is comprised of Little Rock, its suburbs, and surrounding areas. While serving the U.S. House of Representatives, Tucker was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee, the Social Security Subcommittee, and the Speaker's Task Force on Welfare Reform. Some of Tucker's main initiatives addressed:
- Energy Needs
- Gun Control
- Welfare Reform
- Environmental Damage
Tucker left his position to run for Senate in 1978. Read more about Tuckers time as Arkansas Representative here.
Chairmen for the White House Conference on Families (WHCF)
Position held: April 1979 - 1980
Appointed or Elected: Appointed by Jimmy Carter
Term Duration: 1 year
Terms Served: 1
Following his unsuccessful race for Senate in 1978, Tucker was appointed by Jimmy Carter to the White House Conference on Families. This program conducted conferences around the United States to discuss the role of families in the United States and the families' relationship to economics and public policy.
While Chair, Tucker:
- Named 40 members to the National Advisory Committee
- Helped establish organizational goals for the upcoming year
- Assisted in the planning and coordination of conferences
- Established contacts with all 50 states, which in turn conducted their own state conferences on the family
Following his role as Chair, Tucker made an unsuccessful bid for Arkansas Governor in the 1982 Democratic primary.
Learn more about Tucker and the White House Conference on Families here.
Lieutenant Governor
Position held: January 15, 1991 - December 12, 1992
Appointed or Elected: Elected
Term Duration: 2 years
Terms Served: 1
On January 15, 1991, Tucker became lieutenant governor. The role of Arkansas's Lieutenant governor. The role of Arkansas's Lieutenant Governor is to preside over the state senate and serve as acting governor when the governor is out of state or vacates office. In October 1991, as customary in Arkansas law, Lieutenant Governor Tucker began standing in as active governor while Governor Bill Clinton was out of state campaigning for the U.S. presidency. When Clinton resigned as governor to become president, Tucker assumed the office. A soecial election named Republican Mike Huckabee lieutenant governor.
Governor
Position held: December 12, 1992 - July 15, 1996
Appointed or Elected: Inherited and then elected as incumbent
Term Duration: 4 years
Terms Served: 1.5
On December 12, 1992, Jim Guy Tucker was inaugurated as Arkansas Governor, Tucker gave special attention to:
- The Arkansas Highway System, improving transportation and toursim
- Education reform, including the School-to-work initative
- Economic development, creating 50,000 new jobs
- Truth in Sentenceing, eliminating early release of prisoners
- Preventing youth crime
On July 15, 1996, Tucker resigned as governor and Mike Huckabee filled the office.
Learn more about Tucker as Governor: Capital for a Day, Capital for a day on the map, Political Advertisements