Sumner Tucker Pike (August 30, 1891 – February 21, 1976) was an American politician and government official who was a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1940 to 1946 and a member of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from 1946 to 1951, serving as acting chairman of the AEC during 1950.

Early life and education

Pike grew up in Lubec, Maine, a small fishing village in the northeastern portion of the state. He was a

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

graduate, in the year 1913.

Business career

Pike entered the sardines industry and became a self-made millionaire. He then went to

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

in 1928 where he became an investment banker. He retired from business in 1939.

Securities and Exchange Commission

After retiring, Pike came to Washington, D.C. and served as an advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. During World War II he was on the Securities and Exchange Commission and also was in the

Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price contr ...

Atomic Energy Commission

Pike was chosen as one of the five original members of the Atomic Energy Commission created by the

Atomic Energy Act of 1946 The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (McMahon Act) determined how the United States would control and manage the nuclear technology it had jointly developed with its World War II allies, the United Kingdom and Canada. Most significantly, the Act rule ...

. The first atomic bomb test by the Soviet Union in August 1949 came earlier than expected by Americans, and over the next several months there was an intense debate within the U.S. government, military, and scientific communities regarding whether to proceed with development of the far more powerful

hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

, then known as "the Super". In November 1949, Pike joined a 3–2 majority of commissioners in recommending against proceeding with the Super. However by the time President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

ordered that development of the Super go on, Pike's position had drifted to being in favor of proceeding. Another issue Pike faced on the AEC was whether to allowed nuclear testing in the United States. In March 1949, he had stated that only a national emergency could justify such testing; but following the onset of the Korean War, it was considered that such an emergency existed and nuclear bomb testing began in Nevada in 1951. In 1950, the Joint Atomic Energy Committee of Congress voted five to four (with one Democrat joining the four Republicans on the panel) not to approve of President

's nomination of Pike as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, when he was acting as chairman. Instead, though Pike was renominated and approved as a member, Truman picked Gordon Dean as chairman. When Pike resigned from the AEC in December 1951, he was the last of the original five members still on it.

Maine politician

Pike was a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

.Two articles
by Donald R. Larrabee , one each from Bangor Daily News and Maine Sunday Telegram, entered in CONGRESSIONAL RECORD – SENATE June 10, 1975 Page 18115 by Sen. Edmund Muskie, in Bates College Muskie archives. When he returned to Maine from Washington, he resisted calls to run for governor but did serve in the legislature. From 1965–75, Pike was a charter member of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission,https://uscode.house.gov/statutes/pl/88/363.pdf which governs Roosevelt Campobello International Park, serving with Sen.

Edmund S. Muskie Edmund Sixtus Muskie (March 28, 1914March 26, 1996) was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, a United States Senator from Maine from 1959 to 1980, the 6 ...

and

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (August 17, 1914 – August 17, 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman. He served as a United States congressman from New York from 1949 to 1955 and in 1963 was appointed United States Under Secret ...

References

External links

Sumner T. Pike Papers
Truman Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Pike, Sumner Chairmen of the United States Atomic Energy Commission Bowdoin College alumni Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 1891 births 1976 deaths People from Lubec, Maine Maine Republicans Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel Truman administration personnel