Thomas Emmet Hayden (born December 11 1939) is an American social and political activist and politician, most famous for his involvement in the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. He is the former husband of actress Jane Fonda and the father of actor Troy Garity.

Biography

Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan, to parents of Irish descent and later attended the University of Michigan, where he was editor of the Michigan Daily and, disenchanted by the anti-radicalism of existing groups like the National Student Association (later revealed to be a CIA front),^[1] became one of the founders of the student activist group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

In 1961, he married Casey Hayden, a Texas-born civil rights activist who worked for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He served as president of SDS from 1962 to 1963 and drafted its most famous work, the Port Huron Statement. From 1964 to 1968, he lived in Newark, New Jersey, where he worked with impoverished inner-city residents as part of the Newark Community Union Project. He was also witness to the city's race riots and wrote the book Rebellion in Newark: Official Violence and Ghetto Response (1967). Hayden also played a key role in the protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. There, he was arrested as part of the "Chicago Seven," with other protesters including Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, and charged with conspiracy and inciting riots. He made several high-profile trips as a peace activist to Cambodia and North Vietnam during America's involvement in the Vietnam War, including an especially controversial one in 1972 to North Vietnam with his future wife, actress Jane Fonda.

In 1976, Hayden made a maverick primary election challenge against sitting California U.S. Senator John V. Tunney. Starting far behind, Hayden mounted a spirited challenge and finished a surprisingly close second in the Democratic primary field. He and Fonda went on to found the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED), which formed a close alliance with then-Governor Jerry Brown and successfully promoted solar energy, environmental protection, and renters' rights policies while promoting candidates for local office throughout California, some 100 of whom would be elected.

Hayden later served in the California State Assembly (1982-1992) and the State Senate (1992-2000). During this time, he was frequently protested by conservative groups, including Vietnamese refugees, veterans of the US military, and Young Americans for Freedom. He mounted another maverick bid in the Democratic primary for California Governor in 1994 on the theme of campaign finance reform. He ran for Mayor of Los Angeles in 1997 but lost to incumbent Republican Richard Riordan.

In 1999, Hayden made a speech during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. In 2001, he unsuccessfully sought election to the Los Angeles City Council. He currently lives in Los Angeles and is married to actress Barbara Williams. During the past three years, Hayden has periodically taught as an assistant and adjunct professor at Occidental College. During the fall semesters of 2005 and 2006, he taught a course on social movements at Pitzer College.

Hayden serves as a member of the advisory board for the Progressive Democrats of America, an influential "grass roots" organization created to expand progressive political cooperation within the Democratic Party.^[2]

In January 2008, Hayden wrote an oped piece for The Huffington Post supporting Barack Obama's presidential bid in the Democratic primaries.^[3]

Animal Rights Legislation

Hayden is widely known in California as a staunch supporter of animal rights and was responsible for writing the bill popularly known as the Hayden Act^[4], which improved protection of pets and extended holding periods for pets picked up as strays or surrendered to shelters.

Bibliography

• The Port Huron Statement (1962)
• The Other Side (1966)
• Rebellion in Newark: Official Violence and Ghetto Response (1967)
• Trial (1970)
• The Love of Possession Is a Disease with Them (1972)
• Vietnam: The Struggle for Peace, 1972-73 (1973)
• The American Future: New Visions Beyond Old Frontiers (1980)
• Reunion: A Memoir (1988)
• The Lost Gospel of the Earth: A Call for Renewing Nature, Spirit and Politics (1996)
• Irish Hunger (1997)
• Irish on the Inside: In Search of the Soul of Irish America (2001)
• The Zapatista Reader (2001)
• Rebel: A Personal History of the 1960s (2003)
• Street Wars: Gangs and the Future of Violence (2004)
• Radical Nomad: C. Wright Mills and His Times with Contemporary Reflections by Stanley Aronowitz, Richard Flacks and Charles Lemert (2006)
• Ending the War in Iraq (2007)
• Writings for a Democratic Society: The Tom Hayden Reader (2008)

In Popular Culture

On The Simpsons episode "Three Gays of the Condo," after the family has spent many hours on a large jigsaw puzzle, a bleary-eyed Homer examines a piece and says to himself, "Now, let's see. This is either an old coconut or Tom Hayden." Hayden was also mentioned in the episode "Mother Simpson" when Mona explained that she survived while being on the run from the law in the 1960s in part by running credit checks at Tom Hayden's Porsche dealership.

Hayden appeard on The Colbert Report on June 25, 2007 several months after the October 24, 2006 episode where Hayden's ex-wife, Jane Fonda, kissed Stephen Colbert on the cheek. Unusually, Colbert made no mention of the incident to Hayden.

References

1. ↑ Hugh Wilford, The Might Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America (Cambridge & London: Harvard University Press, 2008), p. 139.
2. ↑ Progressive Democrats of America webpage with advisory board information
3. ↑ "An Endorsement of the Movement Barack Obama Leads", The Huffington Post, January 27, 2008
4. ↑ SB 1785 Senate Bill - CHAPTERED

External links

• TomHayden.com
• HaydenAct.com
• Tom Hayden's blog at The Huffington Post
• Tom Hayden Talking about politics after 9/11 at Cal Poly Pomona (streaming video)
• Tom Hayden gives a talk on environmental activism, hosted by Progressive Christians Uniting (Pasadena, CA) February 19, 2007 (streaming video)
• Video of Tom Hayden interview on The Colbert Report, 2007-6-25
• Tom Hayden, "The Future of 1968's 'Restless Youth'," in: Martin Klimke and Joachim Scharloth, 1968 in Europe - A History of Protest and Activism (New York/London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 325-331, full text online
• Musings from the Left Tom Hayden discusses his books, life and times on 6-25-2008 from Sacramento, CA

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