REBEL

Epilogue

381 Epilogue Epilogue 1971 Tom Hayden meets Jane Fonda. They marry and team together in the Indochina Peace Campaign, which lobbies nationally to end funding for the Indochina War. Tom becomes the step-father of Vanessa, Jane’s daughter by a previous marriage to Roger Vadim. 1972 Tom and Jane campaign in 100 cities against the war and in support of George McGovern’s presidential campaign. 1973 Tom is acquitted in federal court of the contempt charges that arose from the Chicago conspiracy trial. A court of appeals throws out the Chicago conviction as well. The Watergate scandal envelopes the Nixon Administration. Troy is born to Tom and Jane. 1975 The war finally ends and the Indochina Peace Campaign comes to a close. 1976 Tom runs for the U.S. Senate in California, winning 37 percent of the Democratic primary vote in an underdog campaign. He then forms a grass-roots organization, called the Campaign for Economic Democracy, to support local candidates and push for corporate reform, environmental health, local rent control, a state Superfund, solar energy and the phase-out of nuclear power plants. 1978 CED supports Gov. Jerry Brown for president. Rebel 382 1979 CED wins seats for 50 candidates to local offices throughout California and begins a successful effort to eliminate the Rancho Seco nuclear plant in Sacramento. Tom is appointed chairman of California’s solar energy program and the governor’s representative to the US-Mexico Southwest Border Commission. 1982 Tom runs for the state Assembly, winning a hard-fought primary and general election. As soon as he is seated, Republicans began a campaign to remove him for his conduct during the Vietnam war, an effort that does not end for three years. In his Assembly years, Tom chairs the policy committees on higher education and labor. 1986 CED campaigns successfully for an initiative called “get tough on toxics,” which mandates disclosure of toxic chemicals in drinking water and provides incentives for their removal. 1988 CED participates in the successful campaign to increase tobacco taxes to pay for billions in health care and several millions for an anti-smoking television advertisement effort. As an Assemblyman, Tom begins taking on special interest campaign contributors and advocating fundamental reforms. He is elected five times to the Assembly. 1990 Assembly Speaker eliminates Tom’s seat in legislative reapportionment . Tom and Jane are divorced. 383 1992 Tom fights back by winning an open state Senate seat in a closefought primary that splits the Democratic Party. 1993 Tom is remarried to Canadian actress Barbara Williams. In the Senate, Tom chairs the Natural Resources Committee, serving on the committees for budget, education, transportation and toxics. Overall, he authors more than 100 bills which become law. 1994 Tom ran protest campaigns with virtually no funding for governor , receiving 15 percent of the Democratic primary vote; and for mayor of Los Angeles in 1997, winning 35 percent. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1996. 2000 Tom is forced to retire by term limits. The farewell ceremony held by his Senate colleagues is reportedly the longest in Senate history. Immediately after leaving the Legislature, Tom is defeated in a campaign for the Los Angeles city council, losing by 250 votes out of 50,000 cast. 2001 In August, Tom suffers heart failure in New Mexico and undergoes open heart surgery. His recovery is excellent. 2002 Tom becomes a member of The Nation’s editorial board and the Carey McWilliams Fellow at the magazine’s think tank, The Nation Institute. He serves as a consultant to an international anti-sweatshop coalition. Tom and Barbara adopt a baby boy, Liam. Tom continues to write and teach. His future writing inEpilogue Rebel 384 cludes a book on the history of street gangs. He has taught at Santa Monica College, Sacramento State University, Immaculate Heart College, Pitzer College, and most recently, Occidental College. Some highlights from Tom Hayden’s legislative record: ● Formulated the largest natural resources and open space bond in California history. ● Protected the Endangered Species Act under a Republican administration . ● Created anti-sweatshop protections for garment workers. ● Formulated landmark laws protecting against sexual harassment and domestic violence. ● Ended conflicts of interest in transportation projects. ● Saved Los Angeles’ oldest structure, St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, from the wrecking ball. ● Ended fertility clinic scandals at University of California, Irvine. ● Guaranteed permanent funding for after-school tutors. ● Provided free SAT preparation for low-income students. ● Ensured proper...