Frank R. McNinch

{{Infobox officeholder

|office = Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission

|image = Frank R. McNinch cropped.jpg

|alt = Photo of McNinch taking the oath of office

|caption = McNinch takes the oath of office, October 1, 1937, administered by Pansy Wiltshire; photo by Harris & Ewing

|predecessor = Anning S. Prall

|president = Franklin D. Roosevelt

|successor = James Lawrence Fly

|office2 = Chairman, Federal Power Commission

|predecessor2 = George Otis Smith

|party = Democratic

|successor2 = Clyde L. Seavey

|birth_name = Frank Ramsay McNinch

|birth_date = April 27, 1873

|birth_place = Charlotte, North Carolina

|death_date = {{d-da|April 2, 1950|April 27, 1873}}

|death_place =

|spouse =

|children =

|alma_mater =

|occupation =

|term_start = October 1, 1937

|term_end = July 25, 1939

|term_start2 = July 19, 1933

|term_end2 = September 30, 1937

|office3 = Member of the Federal Power Commission

|president3 = Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt

|term3 = December 27, 1930 - June 22, 1934

|preceded3 = position established

|office4 = Mayor of Charlotte

|term_start4 = 1917

|term_end4 = 1920

|predecessor4 = Thomas Leroy Kirkpatrick

|successor4 = John M. Wilson

}}

Frank Ramsay McNinch (April 27, 1873 – April 2, 1950) was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.{{cite book|title=Prominent People of North Carolina: Brief Biographies of Leading People for Ready Reference Purposes|year=1906|publisher=Evening News Pub. Co.|location=Asheville, NC|pages=31|url=http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll37,4739}} He was a political figure who served as the mayor of Charlotte, as chairman of the Federal Power Commission, and as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.{{Cite news|url=https://www.fcc.gov/general/commissioners-1934-present|title=Commissioners from 1934 to Present|date=2013-06-05|work=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=2017-05-13|language=en}} In the 1928 presidential election, McNinch, a Democrat, supported Republican Herbert Hoover for president. After he was elected, Hoover appointed McNinch to a seat on the Federal Power Commission, leading to a split in the North Carolina Democratic Party that damaged the political fortunes of new U.S. Sen. Cameron Morrison, a friend of McNinch.[http://www.knoxfocus.com/2012/12/robert-rice-reynolds-of-north-carolina/ "Robert Rice Reynolds of North Carolina"] He was later appointed FPC chairman by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The controversial 1938 Orson Welles War of the Worlds radio broadcast occurred during his tenure as FCC head. McNinch resigned as FCC chairman on July 25, 1939, due to ill health.{{cite journal | journal = Broadcasting | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | page = 11 | title = James L. Fly to Become Chairman of FCC | date = August 1, 1939}}

His home, the Frank Ramsay McNinch House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.{{Cite web | author = Richard L. Mattson | title =Frank Ramsay McNinch House| work = National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory | date =July 1990| url = https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/MK1860.pdf | publisher = North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office | accessdate = 2015-02-01}}