Sumner Pike

Sumner Tucker Pike (August 30, 1891 – February 21, 1976) was an American politician and government official who was acting chairman of United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1950.

Sumner Pike
Member of the Maine House of Representatives from Lubec
In office
January 7, 1959 – January 1, 1969
Preceded bySherman Denbow
Succeeded byJohn A. Donaghy
Member of the United States Atomic Energy Commission
In office
October 1946 – December 15, 1951
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Preceded byNone (office created)
Succeeded byEugene M. Zuckert
Member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
In office
June 4, 1940 – April 30, 1946
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Preceded byGeorge C. Mathews
Succeeded byRichard B. McEntire
Personal details
Born
Sumner Tucker Pike

(1891-02-22)February 22, 1891
Lubec, Maine, U.S.
DiedFebruary 21, 1976(1976-02-21) (aged 84)
Lubec, Maine, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materBowdoin College (BA)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1917–1919
RankCaptain
UnitCoast Artillery Corps
Battles/warsWorld War I

Career

As a 1913 Bowdoin College graduate, Pike 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.

A Republican from Lubec, Maine,[1] Pike voted at the AEC against the hydrogen bomb on many occasions. In 1949, when on the Atomic Energy Commission, he stated that "only a national emergency could justify testing in the United States." Nevertheless, 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 Harry S. Truman's nomination of Pike as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, when he was acting as Chairman.[2] Instead, though Pike was renominated and approved as a member, Truman picked Gordon Dean as Chairman.[3]

When he returned to Maine from Washington, D.C., he resisted calls to run for Governor but did serve in the legislature. From 1965–75, Pike was a charter member of the board of the International Campobello Commission, which governed Roosevelt Campobello International Park, serving with Sen. Edmund S. Muskie and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.[1]

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Pike & Pique". Time. July 10, 1950. Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  3. "The Atom: A friendly favor". Time. July 24, 1950. Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
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