Hayden, Tom (1939–)

TOM HAYDEN HAS spent his adult life working for political, economic, and global change. Born in 1939, Hayden reached adulthood at the beginning of one of the nation's more activist periods, and he jumped right in. From his first anti-war demonstration through his years in the California state legislature and later as a retired legislator, Hayden has upheld his beliefs in democracy, specifically economic democracy.

Hayden first became interested in politics and activism in 1960 during the civil rights movement, when he joined the sit-in demonstrations against Woolworth stores. As he continued to work toward his degree in English, he also continued to explore political radicalism, eventually accepting his place in the student movements that spread across the nation in the mid-to-late 1960s. Hayden's involvement in ...