Carlson was born Tucker McNear Carlson in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, on May 16, 1969.[1][27]
...
When Carlson was in first grade, his father moved Tucker and his brother to the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, and raised them there.[44][45] Carlson attended La Jolla Country Day School and grew up in a home overlooking the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.[46] His father owned property in Nevada, Vermont, and islands in Maine and Nova Scotia.[46][28] In 1984, his father unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican Mayor Roger Hedgecock in the San Diego mayoral race.[47]
...
Carlson was briefly enrolled at Collège du Léman, a boarding school in Switzerland, but says he was "kicked out".[50] He attained his secondary education at St. George's School, a boarding school in Middletown, Rhode Island, where he started dating his future wife, Susan Andrews, the headmaster's daughter.[51] He then went to Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, graduating in 1991 with a BA in history.[30] Carlson's Trinity yearbook describes him as a member of the "Dan White Society", an apparent reference to the American political assassin who murdered San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.[52][53][54] After college, Carlson tried to join the Central Intelligence Agency, but his application was denied, after which he decided to pursue a career in journalism with the encouragement of his father, who advised him that "they'll take anybody."[30][55]