Orestes H. Caldwell

Who is Orestes H. Caldwell?

Orestes Hampton Caldwell was one of the first five members of the Federal Radio Commission and may have been the first person to coin the term electronics. Born 1888 in Lexington, Kentucky, he graduated from Purdue University as an electrical engineer, specializing in telephone and communications. In 1907 he succeeded Lee De Forest as technical editor of Western Electrician. He went on to edit a number of engineering and technical journals, including Electrical World, Electrical Merchandising, and Radio Retailing. In 1927, with the backing of United States Department of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, he was appointed to the newly created Federal Radio Commission, where he helped oversee the reorganization of the U.S. radio system. 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."