"I'm not ready to give you a clear answer on whether electoral politics holds any particular hope for progressives. It would mean that nothing I did ever mattered." -- Tom Hayden
Thomas Emmet "Tom" Hayden (born December 11, 1939) is an American social and political activist and politician, known for his involvement in the animal rights, and 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.
"Already this war on gangs in California is taking money from universities to build prisons, and the universities have some clout.""Fonda was neither wrong nor unconscionable in what she said and did in North Vietnam.""I don't think I'll ever fully get over losing the city council seat. I don't know how that happened. But it was less than 1 percent out of 50,000 votes. I'd put in six or seven years into changing L.A.""I think people are entitled to march without a permit. When you have a few hundred thousand people on the street you have permission.""I've written a book on gangs, taught a course on gangs at Occidental.""If you look at the data, the inner city that was the riot zone lost 55,000 jobs in the ten years from 1992 to 2002, instead of gaining a surplus of 50,000.""Most centrist Democrats... try to distance themselves from controversies that recall the 1960s. There are journalistic centrists as well, who avoid hard truths for the sake of acceptance and legitimacy.""The issue of civil rights was too much for the establishment to handle. One of the chapters of history that's least studied by historians is the 300 to 500 riots in the U.S. between 1965 and 1970.""The peace and justice movement has to expand and not run away from the plight of gang members.""The politicians of New York have everything that is necessary to make proper decisions and they will have to live with what happens afterwards. The worst scenario is the politicians covering their eyes and turning it over to the FBI.""Twice the Republicans in the California legislature tried to block my seating because of my trips to Hanoi.""Why should American atrocities be merely unsettling, but a trip to Hanoi unconscionable?"
Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan, to parents of Irish descent. He graduated from Dondero High School in Royal Oak, Michigan 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), 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. Six months after the convention he was indicted on federal charges of conspiracy and incitement to riot as part of the "Chicago Eight," with other protesters including Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. 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. The following year he married Jane and they had one child whom they named Troy Garity, born on 7 Jul 1973.
In 1976, Hayden made a 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 a 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.
In January 2008, Hayden wrote an oped piece for The Huffington Post supporting Barack Obama's presidential bid in the Democratic primaries.
Hayden has taught numerous courses on social movements, particularly his trademark Machiavellian analysis. He is taught a course entitled "From the 60's to the Obama Generation" at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, where he has taught similar topics for three semesters now. Recently, he taught at Scripps College, a sister school to Pitzer, two courses: one on the Long War and one on gangs in America.
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 SB 1785 Senate Bill - CHAPTERED, which improved protection of pets and extended holding periods for pets picked up as strays or surrendered to shelters.
