Thomas Emmet Hayden was a social reformer, non-fiction writer, political activist, and politician from America. Considered the most important radical figure of the 1960s America, he was a prominent participant in the protests against the Vietnam War and in the civil rights movement. A Michigan native, Hayden developed anti-religious and anti-authoritarian views quite early in his life due to his upbringing. He graduated from the University of Michigan, where he was involved in student politics. In 1962, he co-authored the Port Huron Statement, a manifesto of the influential leftist student activist group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), of which he was one of the initiators. He was one of the seven individuals to stand trial in 1968 on the charges of inciting riots and anti-war and counterculture protests in Chicago. For the most part of his life, Hayden worked in academia and was affiliated as a professor with several schools. As a politician, he held seats in both the California Assembly and California Senate.
