He received his Bachelor of Laws from Temple University in 1938 and clerked for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

[3] Mayor Richardson Dilworth resigned his post in 1962 in order to make a second run for Governor in that fall's general election.

As the city council president, Tate became acting mayor upon Dilworth's resignation.

[5] He fended off a protest by the Congress of Racial Equality by stopping construction of the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building until more black workers were hired.

Tate died of an apparent myocardial infarction in Somers Point, aged 73.