Early life, career, and family

Michael Vincent Hayden was born on St. Patrick's Day in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to an Irish-American couple, Sadie (Murray) and Harry V. Hayden, Jr., who worked as a welder for a Pennsylvania manufacturing company. He has a sister, Debby, and a brother, Harry.

He went to St. Peter's Elementary school where, in 7th and 8th grade he played quarterback on the school football team then being coached by Dan Rooney, the son of the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and current Chairman of the team. Michael Hayden graduated from North Catholic High School. One of Hayden's first jobs was as an equipment manager for the Steelers. Hayden went on to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where he earned a B.A. in history in 1967 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He then attended graduate school at Duquesne for an M.A. in modern American History. He continues to be an avid fan of the hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, since the 1990s travelling with his wife and family to at least 3-4 games a year.

He was commissioned through University of Pittsburgh's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Hayden entered active military service in 1969.

Hayden has served as commander of the Air Intelligence Agency and Director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center, both headquartered at Lackland Air Force Base. He also has served in senior staff positions in the Pentagon; Headquarters U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany; the National Security Council, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Embassy in the then-People's Republic of Bulgaria. Prior to becoming Director of the National Security Agency, the general served as deputy chief of staff for United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea, Yongsan Garrison. He has also worked in intelligence in Guam.

He is married to Jeanine Carrier, and they have a daughter and two sons, Margaret, Michael and Liam.

Intelligence career

Air Intelligence Agency

From 1996 to 1997, Hayden served as Commander of the AIA, an agency of 16,000 charged with defending and exploiting the "information domain."

National Security Agency

Hayden served as the Director of the National Security Agency and Chief of the Central Security Service at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland from March 1999 to April 2005. As the Director of NSA and Chief of CSS, he was responsible for a combat support agency of the Department of Defense with military and civilian personnel stationed worldwide.

Strategy for the NSA

Hayden came to the NSA at a time of great trouble in the agency. Internal government analysis indicated it suffered from a lack of quality management and an outdated IT infrastructure. In fact soon after he came on board, a huge part of the NSA network system crashed and was down for several days. Part of his plan to revitalize the agency was to introduce more outside contractors, induce a lot of old managers to retire and get rid of old management structures. Part of his plan also included increased openness at the agency; it had historically been one of the most secretive organs of government. He notably allowed James Bamford access for his book Body of Secrets. Hayden was also initially extremely concerned with following the laws against domestic surveillance. Many reports say that after 9/11, he became more concerned with stopping terrorism, and allegedly softened his stance against domestic surveillance. Hayden however has said that he believed everything the agency was doing was "effective, appropriate, and lawful".

On 9/11, Hayden immediately evacuated all non-essential personnel from NSA headquarters. After 9/11, the agency greatly increased its activity. Details about its operations have been largely hidden, but it played a major role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Global war on terror. One notable example is its relationship with the Unmanned aerial vehicle 'drone' program.

Wiretaps of domestic communication

In May 2006, USA Today reported that, under Hayden's leadership, the NSA created a domestic telephone call database. During his nomination hearings, Hayden defended his actions to Senator Russ Feingold and others, stating that he had relied upon legal advice from the White House that building the database was supported by Article Two of the United States Constitution executive branch powers (in which the President must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed"), overriding legislative branch statutes forbidding warrantless surveillance of domestic calls, which included the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Previously, this action would have required a warrant from a FISA court. The stated purpose of the database was to eavesdrop on international communications between persons within the U.S. and individuals and groups overseas in order to locate terrorists.

Trailblazer

Hayden also championed the Trailblazer Project, a "transformation" project with a large Information Technology component. The project was criticized by several NSA staffers for not including privacy protections for US citizens and for being a waste of money. The critics included Diane S Roark, of the House Intelligence Committee, NSA workers Thomas Andrews Drake, Binney, Wiebe, and Loomis, and others. Hayden severely rebuked these critics. Several quit in protest. After investigations by the NSA inspector general, the DOD inspector general, and Congress, Trailblazer was shut down.

Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence

As part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the CIA chief no longer would run the intelligence community. Instead a new office was created for this purpose; the Director of National Intelligence. General Hayden became the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence from May 2005 to May 2006 under the first DNI, John Negroponte.

Civil liberties

On January 23, 2006, General Hayden participated in a news conference. A YouTube video was posted of Michael Hayden telling reporters at a press conference that "probable cause" is not required by the Fourth Amendment, indicating instead that the standard is whether the search or seizure is reasonable.

Hayden referred to people who believed that enhanced interrogation techniques used against CIA detainees have never yielded useful intelligence, as "interrogation deniers".

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

On May 8, 2006, Hayden was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency after the resignation of Porter J. Goss on May 5, 2006. He was later confirmed on May 26, 2006 as Director, 78-15, by full U.S. Senate vote.

Critics of the nomination and Hayden's attempts to increase domestic surveillance included Senator Dianne Feinstein who stated on May 11, 2006 that "I happen to believe we are on our way to a major constitutional confrontation on Fourth Amendment guarantees of unreasonable search and seizure".

In 2007, Hayden lobbied to allow the CIA to conduct drone strikes purely on the behavior of ground vehicles, with no further evidence of connection to terrorism.

In 2008 Hayden warned from the destabilizing consequences of Muslim migration to Europe that might raise the possibility of civil unrest.

In 2013, after the P5+1 reached a nuclear agreement with Iran, Hayden said, "We have accepted Iranian uranium enrichment."

Military career

Awards and decorations

Master Intelligence Badge

Presidential Service Badge

	Defense Distinguished Service Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster
	Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
	Legion of Merit
	Bronze Star Medal
	Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
	Air Force Commendation Medal
	Air Force Achievement Medal
	Joint Meritorious Unit Award with oak leaf cluster
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" Device and two oak leaf clusters
	Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with oak leaf cluster
	National Security Medal
	Distinguished Intelligence Medal
	National Defense Service Medal with two service stars
	Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
	Korea Defense Service Medal
	Armed Forces Service Medal
	Air Force Overseas Short Tour Service Ribbon with two oak leaf clusters
	Air Force Overseas Long Tour Service Ribbon with three oak leaf clusters
	Air Force Longevity Service Award with eight oak leaf clusters
	Air Force Longevity Service Award (tenth award)
	Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
	Air Force Training Ribbon
	Order of National Security Merit, Cheon-Su Medal (Republic of Korea)
	Officer of the Order of Australia
	Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Commander's Cross
	Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, Commander with Star

Effective dates of promotion

Promotions

Insignia	Rank	Date
	General	April 22, 2005
	Lieutenant General	May 1, 1999
	Major General	October 1, 1996
	Brigadier General	September 1, 1993
	Colonel	November 1, 1990
	Lieutenant Colonel	February 1, 1985
	Major	June 1, 1980
	Captain	December 7, 1971
	First Lieutenant	June 7, 1970
	Second Lieutenant	June 2, 1967

Quotes

• We kill people based on metadata. But that's not what we do with this metadata. The Johns Hopkins Foreign Affairs Symposium - 01.04.2014

Honors

His native Northside neighborhood of Pittsburgh renamed a major highway leading to Heinz Field in his honor.

On 26 July 2011, Hayden was inducted into the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Alumni in a ceremony at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, officiated by Lt. Gen. Allen G. Peck, Commander, Air University.

His publications

• Hayden, Michael V. Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror. New York: Penguin Press, 2016. ISBN 9781594206566

[ Source: Wikipedia ]