Editing Nathan Eldon Tanner (section)

==LDS Church==
In 1960, Tanner was [[Calling (LDS Church)|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 (Latter Day Saints)|bishop]], [[branch president]], and [[stake president]] in Canada.<ref name=":0" /> 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 (LDS Church)|Quorum of the Twelve Apostles]],{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} which Tanner was called to fill in October 1962.<ref name=":0" /> He was still the quorum's junior member one year later when he was called into the [[First Presidency (LDS Church)|First Presidency]] as second counselor to church [[President of the Church (LDS 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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} 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.<ref name=":0" />

Tanner was presented with the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement’s]] Golden Plate Award at a ceremony in 1972 at Salt Lake City.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=  https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/all-honorees/}}</ref>

As the First Presidency, Kimball, Tanner, and [[Marion G. Romney]] announced the reception of the [[1978 Revelation on Priesthood|Revelation on Priesthood]] in June 1978, which established that being of black African descent would no longer be a [[black people and Mormonism|barrier to ordination]] to the church's [[priesthood (LDS Church)|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 (LDS Church)|general conference]] in October 1978.<ref>N. Eldon Tanner, [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1978/11/revelation-on-priesthood-accepted-church-officers-sustained?lang=eng "Revelation on Priesthood Accepted, Church Officers Sustained"], ''[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]]'', November 1978.</ref>

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 Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Tanner remained first counselor until his death on November 27, 1982, at the age of 84. Because of the appointments of Maxwell and Hinckley the prior year, no additional individuals were added to the First Presidency and no apostles were ordained as a result of his death.
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image:NEldonTannerGrave.jpg|Grave marker of N. Eldon Tanner
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