William Martin served for ten years (from 2000 to 2010) as Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee during the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

[6] William F. Martin’s official White House government National Security Council files are available in the Ronald Reagan Library archive As a graduate student at MIT, he was part of a team that prepared ten days of Congressional hearings chaired by Congressman John Dingell on Growth and Its Implications for the Future (Roundtable Press, 1973).

These publications were induced by the first United Nations conference on the environment held in Stockholm in 1972 and headed by Maurice Strong who said of Growth and Its Implications for the Future, "This small volume summarizes much of the important work going on today with regard to global survival...I know of no other publication to date which emphasizes more systematically or extensively, and in such readable form, the interacting relationships amongst diverse fields."

He and his co-author Frank J.P. Pinto were responsible for using the SIMLINK model of the World Bank as an economic foundation for projecting energy futures for developing nations.

This World Bank-MIT project entitled Energy and Economic Growth Prospects for the Developing Countries: 1960-2000 (MIT Press, 1977).

In 1978, he was promoted to Special Assistant to the Executive Director of the IEA, Ulf Lantzke, and served in this capacity for two years during the time of the Second Oil Shock.

At the commencement of the Iran-Iraq war, it was agreed that nations should coordinate their oil stock draws in the event of a major disruption.

[10] The senior Reagan administration inter-agency "Buckley Group" that Martin coordinated sought to reduce European subsidies and credits to the Soviet Union.

Martin briefed President Reagan in the Oval Office that unless the US was credible in its energy policies, the Europeans would not take seriously our concerns on their over dependence on Soviet gas imports.

A key responsibility of Martin's was to conceptualize and then negotiate with the Europeans on the issue of reducing their reliance on Soviet natural gas imports, a project that was directed personally by President Reagan.

Martin made a key presentation to President Reagan on alternative gas scenarios for Europe, concluding that the Troll field was vital for European security.

Martin helped arrange President Reagan's international meetings coordinating with the White House Advance Office, NSC staff and the Department of State.

He participated in the President's visits to Japan (1983), South Korea (1983), China (1984), Ireland (1984), United Kingdom (1984), the D-Day fortieth anniversary commemoration on Normandy beaches in France (1984), Canada (1985), Spain (1985), Germany (1985), EU Parliament (1985), the Reagan-Gorbachev Geneva Summit (1985) and several G-7 economic summit meetings (Williamsburg, London and Bonn).

In addition to general preparations for the President's meeting with the Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, he and Dr. Alvin Trivelpiece were responsible for concluding an agreement with his Russian counterpart Academic Evgeny Velikhov on magnetic fusion cooperation that has since become the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor)[13] project as recognized in the concluding sentence of the communique of this historic meeting, "The two leaders emphasized the potential importance of the work aimed at utilizing controlled thermonuclear fusion for peaceful purposes and, in this connection, advocated the widest practicable development of international cooperation in obtaining this source of energy, which is essentially inexhaustible, for the benefit for all mankind".

[14] This widely quoted radio address, highlighted in headlines on the front page of the Washington Post set the agenda and tone for the subsequent meeting with Soviet leader Gorbachev one year later.

In practice, it serves as the NSC's chief of staff responsible for coordination, budget and management of the National Security Council.

The Executive Secretary coordinates the National Security Council meetings and manages vital policy and information communication from the Cabinet and the NSC staff to the President.

As Executive Secretary, Martin also chaired an Executive Secretary group composed of officials from State, Defense, CIA and the NSC responsible for coordinating the President's national security priorities as identified in a book titled National Security Issues of the United States.

[15] Martin developed a system for briefing the President using a six-month national security intelligence, policy and implementation calendar working closely with his inter-agency colleagues Colin Powell and Robert Gates.

At the time of the Iran-Iraq war in 1984, Martin was responsible for the coordination of an NSC Special Situation Group headed by Vice-President Bush on building up the defensive capabilities of friendly Middle Eastern countries and developing a strategy to cope with potential oil market disruptions.

The policy also called upon all US Cabinet officers to assist Central America in its quest for economic development (i.e. agriculture, energy, commerce and transportation).

During this time, there was a terrorist attack on the Rome and Vienna airports, resulting in the deaths of many innocent men, women and children.

Three months later when Americans were killed in the La Belle Discotheque bombing in Berlin, President Reagan responded with an attack on Gaddafi's compound codenamed Operation El Dorado Canyon.

Though Arkansas received no power from Grand Gulf because of their interstate jurisdictions under US federal law, this debate was significant in that it established firm guidelines for the US electricity industry during a period of deregulation and concern over "rate shock."

President Reagan, accompanied by his Cabinet, spoke on the footsteps of the US Capitol addressing hundreds of thousands of Americans celebrating the event on the National Mall.

From 2002 to 2004, he served on the Secretary's Advisory Board (SEAB), chairing the industry-government sub-committee and participated in the drafting of its 2003 report Critical Choices: Science, Energy and Security.

[31] William Martin was elected to membership in the Council on Foreign Relations in 1983 and chaired the CFR’s energy security group from 1994 to 2004.

[32] In 2004, he joined the Nobel Prize recipient Joseph Stiglitz to chair a working group on energy for the DPRK for the United Nations.

[34] Long interested in Japan issues, he established the Santa Fe seminar and leaders program to bring distinguished Americans and Japanese together to study the importance of safe nuclear energy.

On May 8, 2018, William Martin was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver star by the Emperor Akihito of Japan in a ceremony in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo for his work in strengthening US-Japan cooperation in nuclear energy.