George Badger was born in New Bern, North Carolina, on April 17, 1796. He attended Yale College from 1810 to 1812, but, owing to family financial difficulties, he did not graduate. Badger returned to North Carolina, read law, and was accepted to the bar in 1815, becoming a member of the North Carolina Assembly the following year. He was appointed to the state Superior Court in 1920 and served there until 1825.

A supporter of William Harrison's election, Badger became secretary of the Navy in Harrison's cabinet on March 6, 1841. He remained in that post following Harrison's death, resigning on September 11, 1841, whereupon he returned to the practice of law. Badger would later serve in the U.S. Senate from 1846 to 1855, following which he again returned to his private law practice. George Badger died on May 11, 1866, in Raleigh, North Carolina.