REBEL

Frontmatter

iii Red Hen Press Los Angeles 2003 A Personal History of the 1960s by Tom Hayden Rebel Rebel iv Rebel Rebel: A Personal History of the 1960s Copyright © 2003 by Tom Hayden No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Portions of this book were originally published under the title Reunion, published by Random House. Copyright © 1988 by Tom Hayden Book design by James Harmon Cover design by Mark E. Cull ISBN 1-888996-66-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2002113654 Publication of this volume is made possible in part through support by the California Arts Council First Edition Second printing Red Hen Press www.redhen.org v Good morning, America, How are you? Don’t you know me? I’m your native son. —Steve Goodman “The City of New Orleans,” as sung by Arlo Guthrie We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit . . . We would replace power rooted in possession, privilege, or circumstances by power and uniqueness rooted in love, reflectiveness, reason and creativity. As a social system, we seek the establishment of a democracy of individual participation . . . If we appear to seek the unattainable . . . then let it be known that we do so to avoid the unimaginable. —THE PORT HURON STATEMENT He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetics, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned . . . Yes, that was how it was. Everything that was not suffered to the end and finally concluded, remained, and the same sorrows were undergone. —Herman Hesse SIDDHARTHA Yes, there was the sun and poverty. Then sports, from which I learned all I know about ethics. Next the war and the Resistance. And, as a result, the temptation of hatred. Seeing beloved friends and relatives killed is not a schooling in generosity. The temptation of hatred had to be overcome. And I did so. —Albert Camus “The Wager of Our Generation” from RESISTANCE, REBELLION AND DEATH When you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not try to weakly reconcile yourself with the world . . . Adhere to your own act, and congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant, and broken the monotony of a decorous age. —Emerson ESSAYS: FIRST SERIES, “Heroism” passage underlined by Robert Kennedy vi Rebel This page intentionally left blank. vii A book begins with inspiration but ends like a construction project. The invaluable overseer of construction was Mary Burbidge, who located my oldest friends, searched libraries for out-of-print books,and expertly typedseveraldraftsat all hoursof the night. Ivy Colbert and Julie Coren spent countless hours reading FBI files and collecting photographs. Lynn Nesbit, my agent, and Peter Osnos, my editor at Random House, gave me confidence and direction at crucial points. Mitchell Ivers also did a skillful job of editing. I depended on the judgment and memory of many friends along the way: Hal Adams, Joan Andersson, John Balzar, Elizabeth Becker, Unita Blackwell, Paul and Heather Booth, Connie Brown, Robert Coles, Andrea Cousins, Geoff Cowan, Paul Cowan, Rennie Davis, Shirley Davis, Eric Dey, Dick and Mickey Flacks, Jean Fritz, John Froines, Bruce Gilbert, Todd Gitlin, Richard Goodwin, Anne Grimm, Casey Hayden, Sam Hurst, Jim Jackson, Sharon Jeffrey, Mildred Jeffrey, Doris Kearns (Goodwin), Christopher Kennedy, Courtney Kennedy (Ruhe), Ethel Kennedy, Joseph Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Carol Kurtz, Jim Lau, Jim Lawson, John McAuliffe, Bob Moses, Bob Mulholland, Jack Newfield, Lana Pollack, Richie and Vivian Rothstein, Bob and Marion Ross, Mike Royko, Jerry Rubin, Betty Ryan, Havi Scheindlin, Bobby Seale, Marilyn Shallet, Dan Siegel, Attila Shabazz, Steve Smith, Mort Stavis, StudsTerkel, Maria Varela, Anne Weills, Lennie Weinglass, Leni Zeiger. I also want to thank Dick Flacks, Todd Gitlin, Mary King, and Jim Miller for the understanding I obtained from their recent books on the sixties. I am also indebted to attorneys Marty Echter and Ira Lowe, who succeeded in obtaining seventeen thousand pages of FBI files under the Freedom of Information Act. A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s A c k...