 After appointment by President John F. Kennedy and confirmation by the United States Senate , Seaborg was chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission ( AEC ) from 1961 to 1971 . His pending appointment by President @-@ elect Kennedy was nearly derailed in late 1960 when members of the Kennedy transition team learned that Seaborg had been listed in a U.S. News & World Report article as a member of " Nixon 's Idea Men " . Seaborg said that as a lifetime Democrat he was baffled when the article appeared associating him with outgoing Vice President Richard Nixon , a Republican whom Seaborg considered a casual acquaintance . 
