Charles Ruthven Denny Jr. (April 11, 1912 – October 30, 2000)"United States Social Security Death Index," Charles R Denny, 2000
/ref> was general counsel of the United States

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

, then a member of the commission itself, and was later its chairman. He was married and had three children, and he was a member of the Episcopal Church.

Life

The son and grandson of wallpaper wholesalers, Denny was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, and grew up in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He attended the Washington public schools, graduating from Western High School in 1929. He attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

, receiving an A.B. in 1933, and then

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, from which he graduated in 1936. After law school, Denny joined a Washington law firm, Covington, Burling, Rublee, Acheson & Shorb, but left after less than a year to join the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

in the Lands Division. He married Elizabeth Woolsey on December 31, 1937; the couple had three children: Alison, Christine, and Charles. Denny joined the FCC as assistant general counsel in February 1942, and was promoted to general counsel the following October, replacing

Telford Taylor Telford Taylor (February 24, 1908 – May 23, 1998) was an American lawyer and professor. Taylor was known for his role as lead counsel in the prosecution of war criminals after World War II, his opposition to McCarthyism in the 1950s, and his o ...

. Denny was nominated to the FCC by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

on March 14, 1945, to replace T.A.M. Craven, whose seat had been open since his term expired the previous June. At 32 years of age, Denny was the youngest person to be appointed to the FCC since its establishment in 1934. He was confirmed in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a propo ...

on March 26, and took office March 30. Denny was succeeded as general counsel by assistant general counsel for broadcasting

Rosel H. Hyde Rosel H. Hyde (April 12, 1900 – December 19, 1992) served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) twice under the four different presidents. He was chairman from April 18, 1953, to October 3, 1954, and again from June 27, 196 ...

. Denny was designated acting FCC chairman on February 26, 1946, after chairman Paul A. Porter was appointed administrator of the

Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money ( price con ...

; Denny was designated permanent chairman on December 4, 1946. He left the FCC on October 31, 1947, and was succeeded as chairman on an interim basis by commissioner Paul A. Walker.

Wayne Coy Albert Wayne Coy (November 23, 1903 – September 24, 1957) served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from December 29, 1947, to February 21, 1952. During World War II, he served as a Liaison Officer for the Office for Eme ...

was appointed to the remainder of Denny's term, and was designated chairman when he took office. On leaving the commission, Denny took a position as general counsel of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

; he later rose to executive vice-president of parent company

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

. He remained with RCA for 28 years before retiring at the end of 1975. Denny died on October 30, 2000, at age 88.

References

;Nomination and background: ;Confirmation: ;FCC service: ;Additional life and career details: ;Retirement: {{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, Charles Ruthven 1912 births 2000 deaths Chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission Harvard Law School alumni Amherst College alumni Truman administration personnel Members of the Federal Communications Commission