Tom Hayden, famed 1960s anti-war activist, dies at 76
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Famed ’60s anti-war activist Tom Hayden, whose name became forever linked with the celebrated Chicago 7 trial, Vietnam War protests and his ex-wife actress Jane Fonda, has died. He was 76.
He died on Sunday after a long illness, said his wife, Barbara Williams, noting that he suffered a stroke in 2015.
Hayden, once denounced as a traitor by his detractors, overcame his past and won election to the California Assembly and Senate where he served for almost two decades as a progressive force on such issues as the environment and education. He was the only one of the radical Chicago 7 defendants to win such distinction in the mainstream political world.
And so begin the fawning eulogies for radical leftist Tom Hayden, one of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society, one of the most violent domestic terrorist groups ever seen in America, former husband to Hanoi Jane Fonda (who also traveled to North Vietnam during that war with Hanoi Jane), and a co-defendant in the infamous Chicago 7 trial with fellow radicals Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and David Dellinger.
Make no mistake here. Tom Hayden, no dummy, took advantage of, and worked within, our political system to promote his leftist, progressive agenda in a solidly “blue” area of California which got him elected to the State Assembly. Getting elected does not necessarily mean he “overcame his past”, just that, instead of inciting to riot as in Chicago, he chose a, let’s say, more productive avenue for pushing his agenda. He never did leave behind his radicalism – he just figured out how to hide it from the gullible.
Because you can expect to be inundated with articles and video of interviews of people who knew poor old Tom (“He’ll be missed.” … “He was a leading light.” … “He was a regular guy.”, etc., ad nauseum) – in between shots at you know who, of course – I wanted to get this up as soon as possible.
Right Thinking Brothers 