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 the Liberal candidate Briant Stringam to hold his seat. In 1949, Ernest Manning changed Tanner's ministerial portfolio from Lands and Mines to Lands and Forests. Tanner was also appointed Minister of Mines and Minerals and held both portfolios until his retirement from the Legislature at its dissolution in 1952. LDS Church In 1960, Tanner was called as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a full-time LDS Church general authority. He had previous experience in church leadership, having served as a bishop, branch president, and stake president in Canada. 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 that position for the church presidency of Joseph Fielding Smith (1970–1972) and then became first counselor to Smith's successor, Harold B. Lee and later to Spencer W. Kimball until Tanner's death. He thus served as counselor to four church presidents. While Tanner was a member of the First Presidency, the membership numbers of the church grew from 1.7 million to 5 million. Tanner was presented with the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award at a ceremony in 1972 at Salt Lake City. 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. Kimball and Romney were also ailing, and the decision was made to add Gordon B. Hinckley as an additional counselor to the First Presidency on July 23, 1981, with Neal A. Maxwell ordained to take Hinckley's seat in the