Los Angeles, October 25 (RHC)-- Tom Hayden, who spent decades shaping movements against war and for social justice in the United States, has died at the age of 76.  Hayden was the principal author of the Port Huron Statement, the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS.  The statement advocated for participatory democracy and helped launch the student movement of the 1960s. 

In 1968, Tom Hayden became one of the so-called Chicago 8 and was convicted of crossing state lines to start a riot after he helped organize protests against the Vietnam War outside the Democratic National Convention. 

Hayden was married to actress and anti-war activist Jane Fonda from 1973 to 1990, with whom he had two children.  

Outliving contemporaries Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton, Hayden remained active in left-wing politics well into the 21st century, posting on Twitter just a week ago.

Winning election himself to the California state assembly in 1982, and then the state senate a decade later, Tom Hayden went on to serve a total of 18 years.

Tom later became director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center, a nonprofit left-wing think tank devoted mainly to analyzing the continued U.S. military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, drug policy and global poverty.

In later years, his writings were published in national publications including the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Denver Post.  He served on the editorial board and was a columnist for the Nation magazine. 

Tom Hayden died in Los Angeles after a long illness.