After studying law, Tazewell was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1796, and commenced practice in James City County, Virginia.
He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (a part-time position) representing James City County from 1798 to 1800, when he resigned to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Marshall in the Sixth United States Congress, serving in the federal legislature from November 26, 1800, to March 4, 1801.
Politically, Tazewell was a Jeffersonian Republican, and upon the fissure of that party he associated with the Jacksonian Democrats.

Tazewell moved to Norfolk, Virginia in 1802.
He represented Norfolk Borough in the General Assemblies of 1804-1805 and 1805-1806, but was replaced by William Newsum, Jr. in the Assembly of 1806-1806.
Nonetheless, on July 5, 1807, he defused the impressment crisis involving the British HMS Leopard in Norfolk harbor and the USS Chesapeake and Norfolk mayor Richard E. Lee.
Tazewell again represented James City County in the House of Delegates from 1809 until 1812.
Then Norfolk voters elected him to represent the Borough again in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1816 to 1817.
After the War of 1812, Tazewell, General Taylor, George Newton and others also formed the Roanoke Commercial Company, designed to expand traffic through the Dismal Swamp Canal and allow goods from as far away as mountainous Bedford County to ship through Norfolk.
Tazewell also served as one of the commissioners of claims under the treaty with Spain which ceded Florida in 1821.

Virginia legislators elected Tazewell in 1824 to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Taylor.
Re-elected in 1829, he served from December 7, 1824, to July 16, 1832, when he resigned to become Virginia's governor, as discussed below.
While in the Senate, Tazewell was President pro tempore of the Senate during the Twenty-second United States Congress and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
 His principal published work is Review of the Negotiations between the United States and Great Britain Respecting the Commerce of the Two Countries (1829).

Tazewell served as Norfolk's delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1829–1830.

When the Whigs secured majorities in the Virginia Assembly for six years, they first elected the Old Republican as a Whig governor 1834–36, although he resigned a year before his term ended.
During his two years as governor, Tazewell had to address abolitionism, although Nat Turner's revolt had occurred in 1831 while Tazewell was home from Washington (and caused him to neglect his plantations).
He became an advocate of wholesale colonization, and as Governor asked Virginia's legislature to formally request that Northern states suppress abolitionist groups and also asked Congress to suppress delivery of such literature through the U.S. Post Office.
Tazewell's governorship was also marked by expansion of the James River Canal, which was to connect to the Kanawha Canal and thus the Ohio River.
Under his leadership, the Assembly instructed Virginia's U.S. Senators to support internal improvements, protective tariffs, and a national bank in support of Henry Clay's American System.

Following his term as Governor, Tazewell retired from public life, but nevertheless received 11 electoral votes for Vice-President in the election of 1840.

Tazewell owned plantations and enslaved persons in the Hampton Roads area.
In the 1830 U.S. Federal Census, his Norfolk household included nine free white people (5 his children) and a dozen slaves.
Although Virginia state slave censuses are not available online, and several federal census returns appear either missing or digitally misindexed, by 1860, his household included nine slaves (3 men, 5 women and one 2 year old boy) in Norfolk, and over 100 slaves across the Chesapeake Bay in Northampton County, Virginia (inherited through his wife).
After studying law, Tazewell was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1796, and commenced practice in James City County, Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (a part-time position) representing James City County from 1798 to 1800, when he resigned to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Marshall in the Sixth United States Congress, serving in the federal legislature from November 26, 1800, to March 4, 1801. Politically, Tazewell was a Jeffersonian Republican, and upon the fissure of that party he associated with the Jacksonian Democrats.
Tazewell moved to Norfolk, Virginia in 1802. He represented Norfolk Borough in the General Assemblies of 1804-1805 and 1805-1806, but was replaced by William Newsum, Jr. in the Assembly of 1806-1806. Nonetheless, on July 5, 1807, he defused the impressment crisis involving the British HMS Leopard in Norfolk harbor and the USS Chesapeake and Norfolk mayor Richard E. Lee. Tazewell again represented James City County in the House of Delegates from 1809 until 1812. Then Norfolk voters elected him to represent the Borough again in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1816 to 1817. After the War of 1812, Tazewell, General Taylor, George Newton and others also formed the Roanoke Commercial Company, designed to expand traffic through the Dismal Swamp Canal and allow goods from as far away as mountainous Bedford County to ship through Norfolk. Tazewell also served as one of the commissioners of claims under the treaty with Spain which ceded Florida in 1821.
Virginia legislators elected Tazewell in 1824 to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Taylor. Re-elected in 1829, he served from December 7, 1824, to July 16, 1832, when he resigned to become Virginia's governor, as discussed below. While in the Senate, Tazewell was President pro tempore of the Senate during the Twenty-second United States Congress and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.  His principal published work is Review of the Negotiations between the United States and Great Britain Respecting the Commerce of the Two Countries (1829).
Tazewell served as Norfolk's delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1829–1830.
When the Whigs secured majorities in the Virginia Assembly for six years, they first elected the Old Republican as a Whig governor 1834–36, although he resigned a year before his term ended. During his two years as governor, Tazewell had to address abolitionism, although Nat Turner's revolt had occurred in 1831 while Tazewell was home from Washington (and caused him to neglect his plantations). He became an advocate of wholesale colonization, and as Governor asked Virginia's legislature to formally request that Northern states suppress abolitionist groups and also asked Congress to suppress delivery of such literature through the U.S. Post Office. Tazewell's governorship was also marked by expansion of the James River Canal, which was to connect to the Kanawha Canal and thus the Ohio River. Under his leadership, the Assembly instructed Virginia's U.S. Senators to support internal improvements, protective tariffs, and a national bank in support of Henry Clay's American System.
Following his term as Governor, Tazewell retired from public life, but nevertheless received 11 electoral votes for Vice-President in the election of 1840.
Tazewell owned plantations and enslaved persons in the Hampton Roads area. In the 1830 U.S. Federal Census, his Norfolk household included nine free white people (5 his children) and a dozen slaves. Although Virginia state slave censuses are not available online, and several federal census returns appear either missing or digitally misindexed, by 1860, his household included nine slaves (3 men, 5 women and one 2 year old boy) in Norfolk, and over 100 slaves across the Chesapeake Bay in Northampton County, Virginia (inherited through his wife).
Littleton Waller Tazewell