Politician, physician, and passionate advocate of public health
As a young physician in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Dr. Tupper travelled great distances on horseback to treat his patients, many living in remote outposts in frontier conditions. He later held leadership roles in the growing city of Halifax as chief medical officer and as president of the Medical Society of Nova Scotia before he turned his attention to politics. Dr. Tupper was elected into the Nova Scotia Assembly in 1855 and served as Premier from 1864 to 1867 during which time he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. In 1867, he became the founding president of the Canadian Medical Association. Dr. Tupper, in his long career as a politician, remained ever a physician and was known for keeping his medical bag under his seat in the House of Commons.