Frank Edward McKinney Sr. (June 16, 1904 – January 9, 1974) was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1951 through 1952. He was hand-picked for the post by then-President

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. Born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, McKinney served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a delegate to several Democratic National Conventions from Indiana. In addition to working as a banker and being active in Indiana politics, McKinney was a co-owner of several professional baseball teams, including the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

and his hometown Indianapolis Indians of the high-level

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, and the Pittsburgh Pirates of

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. He served as majority owner and club president of the Pirates from August 8, 1946 until July 18, 1950. One of McKinney's first acts as DNC chairman was to advocate all collectors of

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be civil service, rather than

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, jobs. McKinney was ousted from the DNC in 1952 by that year's presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson. He later backed W. Averell Harriman for the 1956 presidential nomination. Frank E. McKinney was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Spain on May 11, 1968, with the title Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He presented credentials on May 11, 1968, and took the oath of office, but did not proceed to post under this appointment. His son, Frank Jr., was an Olympic athlete.

References

''Time'' magazine, Nov. 12, 1951

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mckinney, Frank 1904 births 1974 deaths Businesspeople from Indianapolis Democratic National Committee chairs Indiana Democrats Major League Baseball owners Pittsburgh Pirates owners 20th-century American businesspeople