[2] A member of the Democratic Party, Aikin's political career began in 1932 with his election to the Texas House of Representatives.
[2] Among his most significant legislative achievements were his sponsorship of the 1933 bill that established the Teacher Retirement System, which became a constitutional amendment in 1937;[2][3] his cosponsoring of the 1949 Gilmer-Aikin Laws (with Representative Claud Gilmer of Rocksprings), which established a centralized, statewide education system along with the Minimum Foundation school program that guaranteed funding levels for public schools and minimum teachers' salaries procured by the state;[2][3][4][5] and his sponsorship of a 1956 amendment to set $100 a month as the minimum retirement compensation for teachers in an effort to attract better talent to the profession.
[2] Aikin was also an advocate for all-weather farm roads, largely because of the increased accessibility that they provided to schools,[2] as well as the M. D. Anderson Hospital, the principal cancer treatment center in Texas.
[5] In 1929, he married Welma Morphew, a landscape beautification advocate and future PJC regent with whom he had one son.
It serves as a repository for his personal papers in addition to showcasing a gallery exhibit and a replica of his Texas Senate office, as well as a reading room for researchers.
[2][5][10] In 1979, the A. M. Aikin Symposium was established at PJC as a two-day seminar for high school students addressing "fiscal responsibility in government".
The total endowment of the two chairs was $1 million; former PJC president Louis B. Williams led the fundraising effort for the endowment, while the total gift of $500,000 was matched with funds from the Permanent University Fund to establish the memorial chairs.