His tenure on the FRC was marked by consistent support for high-powered radio, a position that led to frequent clashes with the United States Congress.

Making matters worse, he seemed to lack the temperament for politics; as one newspaper put it, "A stormy petrel on the commission from start to finish, he narrowly escaped confirmation by the Senate both times.

When he was on the grill the second time, he added to the gayety of the situation by bawling out Congress and this caused such a melee that he came within a couple of votes of being thrown out.

A passionate fan of electronic gadgets, he hosted a weekly show called Radio Magic on NBC in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

World Trade called it the "House of One Thousand Servants" and "an electrical fairyland where every function and every household chore is accomplished automatically.