Ralph Tucker (September 30, 1906 – November 21, 1977) was the longest-serving mayor of Terre Haute, Indiana, serving from 1948 to 1968.
When Tucker reached adulthood, he moved to Chicago, where he became a salesman and met the woman who would become his wife, Virginia.
Also that year, the young couple moved back to Terre Haute, where Tucker worked for radio station WBOW.
When the popular mayor of Terre Haute, sporting goods dealer Vernon R. McMillan, declined to seek re-election in 1947, Tucker threw his hat into the ring, narrowly escaping in the Democratic primary, but once past that obstacle, he won handily in the general election.
Like many Republicans that year, Handley rode into office on the coattails of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who easily won a second term in that election.