Hayden a symbol of when youth took history into own hands
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Tom Hayden was long past his heyday of political rebellion and the Chicago 7 trial when he died on Sunday at age 76. But in American culture, he remained an enduring symbol of a time when young people took history into their own hands.
Hayden reinvented himself many times, moving from the streets in the 1960s to the halls of California government in the 1970s, going from a longhaired protester who stunned many by marrying glamorous actress Jane Fonda to a lawmaker in a suit and tie.
But even when his hair turned white, he never escaped his past.
Hayden’s 1960s were a decade of dissent marked by civil rights sit-ins, anti-war marches, the Chicago riots and scenes of kids being tear-gassed and clubbed on American campuses.