Alexander Rutherford was born in 1857, on a farm in Carleton County, Ontario. In 1881, he graduated from McGill University with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Civil Law degrees. In 1885 he was called to the Ontario Bar, practicing at the law firm of Hodgkins, Kidd, and Rutherford. In 1895 he moved to the District of Alberta in western Canada where he continued to practice law.
In 1902 he was elected to elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories for Strathcona, and on September 2, 1905 he was appointed the first Premier of Alberta. He resigned as Premier on May 26, 1910, and was succeeded by Arthur L. Sifton.
On December 19, 1888, he married Mattie Birkett, with whom he had three children: Cecil Alexander, Hazel Elizabeth, and Marjorie Cameron.