During World War II, his mother ran the local Office of Price Administration, rationing gasoline and other goods in three counties.

[5] Pickens later cited his boyhood job as an early introduction to "expanding quickly by acquisition", a business practice he favored later in life.

[8][9] He then shifted his focus to acquiring other oil and gas companies by making solicited and unsolicited buyout bids and other merger and acquisition activity.

This is due to the fact that many of his deals were not completed, although Pickens and the shareholders he represented received substantial profits through the eventual sale of their stock as a result.

[14] After nearly two years of periodic hearing and debate, in July 1998 the Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4–1 to approve a one-share, one-vote rule, a primary USA objective.

"In Rudy Giuliani, a gracious and committed public servant I've known for many years, we see that rare blend of big-picture vision and proven track record of achieving the 'impossible.'

We see a forward-looking, accomplished executive eager to tackle the challenges of today's America and ensure that tomorrow we wake up stronger, freer, and more united than ever before.

The Washington Post says that "perhaps the strangest role" Pickens "has fashioned for himself is his current one: the billionaire speculator as energy-wise man, an oil-and-gas magnate as the champion of wind power, and a lifetime Republican who has become a fellow traveler among environmentally-minded Democrats – even though he helped finance the 'Swift boat' ads that savaged" John Kerry's presidential campaign.

"[34] In the spring of 2010, Kerry contacted Pickens and encouraged his support of energy/climate change legislation he was drafting with Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham.

During a May 2010 meeting with reporters, Kerry endorsed key provisions of "the Pickens Plan," incorporating aspects of that in the Kerry-backed legislation calling for the greater use of domestic natural gas to replace foreign oil‑diesel‑gasoline in America's heavy‑duty vehicle fleets.

[35] On November 6, 2007, Pickens offered a million dollars to anyone able to dispute any claims made in political ads by the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth (SVPT), a group he had supported during the 2004 presidential election.

[36] In response to Kerry's acceptance of the challenge, Pickens issued a letter the same day, narrowing the original challenge to the SVPT ads, and requiring Kerry to provide his Vietnam journal, all of his military records, specifically those covering the years after his active duty service, and copies of all movies and tapes made during his service.

[39] Pickens responded with a message stating "In reviewing your material, none of the information you provide speaks specifically to the issues contained in the ads," he wrote, "and, as a result, does not qualify for the $1 million.

The gift is intended to help fund an upgrade of the football stadium and construction of an athletic village but sparked controversy because OSU planned to use eminent domain to acquire residential property for the projects.

Cowboy Golf, Inc. On July 28, 2007, the Board of Regents of Oklahoma State University approved a resolution to move $28 million from the OSU Foundation into Pickens' BP Capital Management company in Dallas.

[51][52] In October 2008, it was reported in The New York Times that due to the recent financial recession, some of Pickens's gifts to the athletic department had seen a large decline in their market value while being managed in his hedge funds.

In 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Pickens together with his then-wife Madeleine, chartered airplanes to transport dogs rescued from the floodwaters in New Orleans.

[56] On August 23, 2007, Bizjournals.com reported that Pickens would be donating $2.5 million to Happy Hill Farm Academy/Home, a residential school for at-risk children and teenagers, to build a training center and guest lodge.

"I want this gift to encourage individuals, corporations and the entire city to make a serious commitment to fitness and health," Boone Pickens said.

"This money isn't just helping people work out – it will revitalize this area and make the YMCA a place for the citizens of Dallas today, and will inspire our next generation to be healthy.

"I can give you an Oklahoma guarantee[67] that natural gas will never sell above diesel and gasoline prices" as fuel for vehicles, Pickens added.

[70] Subsequently, in early 2009, Pickens restated during a Meet the Press interview with Tom Brokaw that he would bet $10 the price of oil would "be back to $100 a year from now".

On December 15, 2010, Nathanael Baker, in an article for www.theenergycollective.com, wrote that Pickens has scrapped plans for wind farms and will instead focus exclusively on natural gas.

According to the article, on December 10, 2010, MSNBC reported that "Pickens said low natural gas prices have made utility companies view wind power as too expensive.

[79] The plan promotes a radical reduction in the United States' dependency upon foreign energy, particularly oil provided by nations in the OPEC cartel.

Although the plan calls for the introduction of various alternatives to oil, including wind and solar, its major component is the conversion of the nation's commercial transport sector away from OPEC diesel to natural gas.

[80] The Pickens Plan also calls for the United States to utilize its wind corridor in the middle of the country stretching from Texas northerly through the Great Plains to the Canada–US border.

[35] On February 21, 2013, Pickens spoke on behalf of Clean Energy Fuels along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in support of a new eco-friendly food truck.

A press conference took place in front of the city hall where the company, Neapolitan Express, explained how their mobile pizzeria emits 75% fewer greenhouse gases than trucks running on gas or diesel.

In July 2009, Pickens was the subject of controversy after he had a construction crew go to his grandmother's former home, that was now owned by someone else, in Holdenville, Oklahoma and remove a slab of driveway concrete that he had signed as a child.