In addition to his career in public service, he became a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors, serving from 1947 to 1963.
Prior to his work for the Democratic Party, Porter had held a number of jobs in the Roosevelt administration, starting with the Department of Agriculture, from 1933 to 1937.
He left the government to work as Washington counsel for CBS, taking leave in 1940 to join the National Defense Council.
[5][6] Porter was nominated by President Roosevelt on November 16, 1944, to fill out the remaining term of departing FCC chairman James Lawrence Fly, and took office on December 21 of that year under a recess appointment after the Senate failed to take up the nomination before the end of the Congressional session.
[9] President Harry Truman appointed Porter to head the American Economic Mission to Greece, with the rank of ambassador, in 1946.
[citation needed] On November 21, 1975, Porter was eating dinner at a restaurant with his wife and friends when he choked on a piece of lobster.