it known that he wanted to be chairman of the SEC. He won the backing of both White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs John Ehrlichman. Cook was nominated by President Richard Nixon, approved by the United States Senate, and sworn in as SEC chairman on March 3, 1973. He was the youngest person ever to lead a federal agency. Vesco scandal Development of the case against Vesco In 1972, SEC Chairman William Casey met with Cook and assigned him an enforcement case then pending against Robert Vesco. In doing so, Casey took the case away from the SEC's Enforcement Division, a move Cook claims he did not question. A mutual fund company, Investors Overseas Service (IOS), which was registered in Panama, was attempting to come into the United States, a complicated process that involved changing the company's articles of incorporation, bylaws, operating procedures, finances, and governance to conform with American securities law. Vesco was battling Bernard Cornfeld, chief executive officer of IOS, for control of the company, and the SEC was investigating Vesco for having covered up the transfer of $224 million in corporate funds to a personal account. Vesco made a $200,000 cash donation to the 1972 Nixon presidential campaign with the expectation that he would receive favorable treatment from the SEC. Another $50,000 in cash was given in violation of federal elections laws. Harry L. Sears, a prominent Republican fund-raiser in New Jersey and Vesco associate, delivered the cash donations to Maurice Stans, Nixon's former Secretary of Commerce and head of finance for Nixon's presidential re-election campaign. Stans arranged for Sears to meet with United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, and Mitchell set up a meeting with Sears, Casey, and Cook in May 1972. Improper discussions with Maurice Stans Cook became aware of the Vesco cash donations and the intent with which they were made. Cook alleges that he told Casey about the donations, although he cannot confirm that Casey did anything with the information. Casey later denied knowing how the embezzled $250,000 had been used. Shortly after his conversation with Casey, Cook went on a hunting trip in Texas with Stans. On November 13, 1972, while he and Stans crouched in a rice field, Cook mentioned that he wished to be SEC chairman and that he was prosecuting a number of cases, including the Vesco lawsuit.