[2] He spent two years each working as a private practice attorney and as a vice president for South Pacific Island Airways during the late 1970s.

After serving one term in the upper house for Sa'Ole County,[2] he reentered law practice, but then ran again successfully for a Senate seat in 1989.

[2] Tulafono presently serves as vice chairman of the territorial church general assembly of American Samoa as of 2008.

Delegate for American Samoa's at-large congressional district for the 2014 elections, but he lost at third place with 11% of the vote.

In the second round on November 16, Tulafono defeated Afoa Moega Lutu, who had run against him for the position of lieutenant governor in 2000, by a vote of 56%-44%.

[6] It was under Tulafono's leadership that American Samoa became, in November 2011, a founding member of the Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language, education, responses to climate change, and trade and investment.

[10] In August 2006, the FAA stated in an official letter to the governor that the territory must continue to allow Hawaiian Airlines to fly the Honolulu-Pago Pago route or risk losing U.S. financial assistance.

[13] In 2012, both the Governor and American Samoa's delegate to the US Congress called for the populace to consider a move towards autonomy if not independence, to a mixed response.