Frank Edward McKinney Sr. (June 16, 1904 – January 9, 1974) was the chairman of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

from 1951 through 1952. He was hand-picked for the post by then-President

Harry S Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th Vice president of the United States, vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Frank ...

Early life and career

Born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, McKinney served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a delegate to several

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s 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 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 The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

of the high-level minor-league American Association, and the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. 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 internal revenue be

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, rather than

political patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

, jobs. McKinney was ousted from the DNC in 1952 by that year's presidential nominee,

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

. He later backed

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986) was an American politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was a founder of Harriman & Co. which merged with the older Brown Brothers to form the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. investment ...

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