Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti praised Hayden on Twitter: “A political giant and dear friend has passed. Tom Hayden fought harder for what he believed than just about anyone I have known.” The Nation magazine editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel wrote on Twitter: “At a time when we need a revived peace movement, Tom Hayden’s forthcoming book ‘Hell No: The Forgotten Power of the Vietnam Peace Movement’ will be vital”.

Peace activist Tom Hayden (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Tom Hayden was a former California state senator. He and a number of peace activists visited Vietnam when the American resistance war in Vietnam became fiercer in the 1960s. Heyden was one of the “Chicago Seven” activists, who were tried on conspiracy and incitement charges following protests at the turbulent 1968 Democratic National Convention and ultimately acquitted of all charges. Tom Hayden was the co-author of the book “The other side” (1966), which discussed the tragic war in Vietnam and called on the US government to withdraw US troops. He participated in talks denouncing wars, organized propaganda pictures, screened films about the situation in Indochina from 1972 to 1975, and urged the US Congress to cut its war budget. Hayden attended a 1967 conference in Bratislava, which denounced US crimes and demanded peace for Vietnam. In 1973, Hayden made a 6-week presentation about Vietnam in the US House of Representatives. In December, 2007, he visited Vietnam and received an insignia for his contributions to restoring peace in Vietnam.