James Lawrence "Larry" Fly (February 22, 1898 – January 6, 1966) was an American lawyer, famous as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and, later, director of the American Civil Liberties Union. He helped inaugurate standards for commercial television broadcasting, and vigorously opposed wiretapping throughout his career. Early life Fly grew up in Texas and graduated from North Dallas High School in 1916. He then graduated from the United States Naval Academy before serving three years in the United States Navy. He resigned to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School. After a short time in private practice, Fly took a position prosecuting antitrust cases for the government. He joined the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1934, rising from solicitor general to general counsel. Fly married Mildred Marvin Jones in 1923, with whom he had two children, James Lawrence, Jr., and Sara Virginia. FCC chairmanship When Fly was appointed to replace Frank McNinch as FCC chairman in 1939, commercial television had not yet begun in the U.S. In April of that year, RCA attempted to broadcast commercial content in New York City using standards set by the Radio Manufacturers Association (now the Electronic Industries Alliance), but these broadcasts were unauthorized and experimental. In December 1939 the FCC announced it would authorize limited commercial broadcasts, but it was not clear what standards should be used. By early 1940 RCA made aggressive moves to dominate the industry, and many of their competitors objected. The FCC halted all commercial broadcasts, and insisting that the television industry as a whole develop standards before broadcasting continue. To break this impasse, Fly urged Walter R. G. Baker to found the National Television System Committee, or NTSC, and negotiations were soon reached. This became the model that the FCC has used repeatedly when developing new standards for nascent technologies. As chairman of the FCC, Fly became the ex officio chairman of the Defense Communications Board, later the Board of War Communications, when it was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in September 1940. That same month, J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI asked the FCC to wiretap all communications to and from Axis powers and the United States, despite the fact that wiretapping had been outlawed by Section 605 of the Communications Act of 1934, and Fly refused to comply. Fly wrote a letter to President Roosevelt explaining his lack of cooperation. Roosevelt renominated Fly to a