Biography
Tom Hayden was a key radical figure of the 1960s who, as a University of Michigan student, helped establish Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a leading leftist student activist organization. SDS was at the forefront of the student protests that defined the 1960s.
Born Thomas Emmet Hayden in Royal Oak, Michigan, to Genevieve Isabelle (Garity) and John Francis Hayden, a Marine employed by Chrysler, he was of Irish descent. In 1961, at age 21, Hayden co-wrote the Port Huron Statement, which served as a foundational manifesto for student radicals and peace activists central to the New Left. His influence was so significant that he, along with seven other anti-war activists, was indicted by the federal government for allegedly conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Known as the Chicago 8 (later the Chicago Seven after Bobby Seale’s removal), they were initially convicted, but their convictions were overturned. The trial was a defining event of the 1960s.
As the decade ended, Hayden intensified his anti-war activism and launched the Indochina Peace Campaign in 1972. He entered a relationship with actress Jane Fonda, who joined him on a 1974 trip to North Vietnam (her second visit after 1972). This trip earned Fonda the controversial nickname "Hanoi Jane" and led to enduring resentment from many Vietnam veterans. Their 1973 marriage coincided with Fonda's transition from her earlier roles in films like Barbarella (1968) to becoming both a serious actress and an outspoken activist, later evolving into a fitness and lifestyle icon.
Fonda’s financial support aided Hayden’s political ambitions. Though he never secured offices such as U.S. Senator or Los Angeles Mayor, Hayden was elected to the California State Assembly in 1982 and then the State Senate in 1992, two years after divorcing Fonda. The couple had a son, Troy Garity, born in 1973, who followed in his mother’s footsteps as an actor and portrayed his father in Steal This Movie (2000).
In California, Hayden became a prominent progressive politician, focusing on economic justice, environmental issues, and animal rights. He joined the Progressive Democrats of America and endorsed Barack Obama in 2008.
