[2] 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.

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.

[4] His home, the Frank Ramsay McNinch House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.