 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.Instead, though Pike was renominated and approved as a member, Truman picked Gordon Dean as Chairman.When he returned to Maine from Washington, D.C., he resisted calls to run for Governor but did serve in the legislature.