Carl Trumbull Hayden (October 2, 1877 – January 25, 1972) was an American politician. Representing
Arizona in the
United States Senate from 1927 to 1969, he was the first U.S. Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as the state's first
Representative for eight terms before entering the Senate, Hayden set the record as the
longest-serving member of the
United States Congress more than a decade before his retirement from politics. He was
Dean of the United States Senate and served as its
president pro tempore
A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...
and chairman of both its
Rules and Administration and
Appropriations committees. He was a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
.
Having earned a reputation as a reclamation expert early in his congressional career,
[August p. 45] Hayden consistently backed legislation dealing with public lands, mining,
reclamation, and other projects affecting the Western United States. In addition, he played a key role in creating the funding formula for the
federal highway system.
President
John F. Kennedy said of Hayden, "Every Federal program which has contributed to the development of the West—irrigation, power, reclamation—bears his mark, and the great Federal highway program which binds this country together, which permits this State to be competitive east and west, north and south, this in large measure is his creation."
Known as the "Silent Senator", Hayden rarely spoke on the Senate floor. Instead his influence came from
committee meetings and
Senate cloakroom discussions where his comments were "given a respect comparable to
canon law". A colleague said of him, "No man in Senate history has wielded more influence with less oratory,"
[Phillips, Cabell. "Cannon vs. Hayden: A Clash of Elderly Power Personalities in Congress", '' The New York Times'', June 25, 1962, p. 17.] while the ''
Los Angeles Times'' wrote that Hayden had "assisted so many projects for so many senators that when old Carl wants something for his beloved Arizona, his fellow senators fall all over themselves giving him a hand. They'd probably vote landlocked Arizona a navy if he asked for it."
[Cohen, Jerry. "Carl Hayden – Man of History and Few Words", '' Los Angeles Times'', April 18, 1971, pp. A1, 4–5.]
Background
Hayden was born to
Charles Trumbull Hayden
Charles Trumbull Hayden (April 4, 1825February 5, 1900) was an American businessman and probate judge. His influence was felt in the development of Arizona Territory where he helped found both the city of Tempe and Arizona State University. Ha ...
and
Sallie Calvert Davis on October 2, 1877, in
Hayden's Ferry,
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
(renamed Tempe in 1878). Charles Hayden was a
Connecticut-born merchant and freight operator who had moved west due to a lung ailment and homesteaded a claim on the south bank of the
Salt River. Charles Hayden had also served as a probate judge and, following
Grover Cleveland's 1884 election, had been considered for the territorial governorship. Sallie Davis was an
Arkansas-born schoolteacher who served as vice president of the Arizona Territorial Suffrage Association during the 1890s.
Following the birth of their son, Charles and Sallie Hayden had three daughters: Sarah (called Sallie), Anna, and Mary (called Mapes). Anna died unexpectedly at two-and-one-half years of age. The Hayden family operated a variety of business interests including a ferry service, a
gristmill, a
general store, and agricultural interests.
While he was growing up, Hayden's family took several trips, including journeys to Washington, D.C., and the
1893 Chicago World's Fair
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...
. To these, Hayden added several solo trips, including a horseback trip to the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
and a trip to
Mexico City when he was fourteen.

Hayden attended Tempe's Eighth Street School and
Arizona Territorial Normal School (now Arizona State University). After his graduation from normal school in June 1896 he was enrolled at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
where he studied economics, history, language, and philosophy with an interest in attending law school after graduation. While at Stanford, he was sophomore class president and participated in debate, fiction writing, football, and track. During his junior year, Hayden suffered his only election defeat when he narrowly lost the race for student body president. He attributed his loss to overconfidence and learned to "always run scared" in future elections.
[August pp. 24–25] Hayden met his future wife, Nan Downing, while at Stanford. The couple married on February 14, 1908, and produced no children.
[Johnson p. 152]
One semester from graduation, in December 1899, Hayden was forced to drop out of school when his father became ill. Charles Hayden died on February 5, 1900, leaving his son with responsibility for the family and control of the family business interests. Hayden sold the mercantile business to pay off outstanding debts and then rented most of the family's properties to provide an income that allowed him to move his mother and sisters to
Palo Alto, California, where his sisters could attend college. In the fall of 1903, he enlisted in the Arizona Territorial National Guard and was elected
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
within two months.
Early political career

Soon after his return from Stanford, Hayden became active in
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
politics. In September 1900 he represented Tempe as a delegate at a county level convention and became chairman of the
Maricopa County Democratic Central Committee in 1902.
[Rice p. 33] Hayden was also elected to a two-year term on the Tempe town council. Following passage of the
National Reclamation Act of 1902 he was sent to Washington, D.C. by interests in Tempe to lobby for funding of the
Salt River Project
The Salt River Project (SRP) is the umbrella name for two separate entities: the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, an agency of the state of Arizona that serves as an electrical utility for the Phoenix metropolitan a ...
.
[August p. 28]
Hayden led the Arizona Territory delegation to the
1904 Democratic National Convention
The 1904 Democratic National Convention was an American presidential nominating convention that ran from July 6 through 10 in the Coliseum of the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall in St. Louis, Missouri. Breaking with eight years of control by ...
in St. Louis. Later in 1904 he was elected Maricopa County treasurer. Hayden's two years as treasurer provided him practical experience with public finance and budgetary processes. After one term as county treasurer, he chose to pursue the more lucrative office of sheriff—the position providing a travel budget and a percentage of collected fees. The November 1906 election saw Hayden defeat his Republican and Prohibition party challengers by the largest margin of victory in any of the county races.
[August p. 30]
By the time Hayden became sheriff, Maricopa County had transformed from a
Wild West frontier into a quiet agricultural settlement.
[Rice p. 35] Based in Phoenix, which had grown to a population of 10,000 people, he performed duties such as maintaining order, collecting fees from saloons and gambling halls, transportation of prisoners to other parts of the territory, and enforcing local ordinances such as a Phoenix law requiring local Indians to wear pants instead of a
breechcloth when visiting town.
[(February 9, 1962)]
Old Frontiersman
'' Time'' 79 (6): 15. During his time as sheriff, Hayden did not have to fire his firearm, although he did use an
Apperson Jack Rabbit to pursue and capture two
train robbers.
House of Representatives

Hayden's first run for Congress came during a 1911 special election called in anticipation of Arizona statehood. With the Democratic Party's influence in territorial politics, winning the party
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
was tantamount to winning the general election. Hayden was considered an underdog to two other Democratic challengers and received an endorsement from only one Arizona newspaper. Due to his duties as sheriff along with his Arizona Territorial National Guard service, Hayden had become known to political leaders throughout the territory. These acquaintances, combined with the influence of his father's good reputation, allowed Hayden a surprise win in the Democratic primary which was followed by his election to the
United States House of Representatives.
[August pp. 35–39]

The 1911 election set a number of precedents that would characterize Hayden's later political campaigns. The first was his tradition of never mentioning his opponent's name in public.
[August p. 42] He also began a practice of caravaning around the state with other members of his party, a pattern that continued until war-time rationing of the 1940s ended the custom. He also kept a lookout for candidates with a potential to run against him, occasionally sending letters encouraging the rumored candidates to run. With good home service of his constituents, Hayden rarely faced a strong challenge for his office.
[Rice p. 225]
Hayden gave the jail house keys to Deputy Jeff Adams and, with his wife, began the trip to Washington, D.C. the same day President
William H. Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
signed the legislation granting Arizona statehood.
Bearing credentials from Territorial Governor
Richard Elihu Sloan
Richard Elihu Sloan (June 22, 1857 – December 13, 1933) was an American jurist and politician, who served as Associate Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for th ...
, Hayden was sworn into the
62nd United States Congress on February 19, 1912. His goal while in Congress was to help his fledgling state develop its natural resources and infrastructure while growing the state's population. Due to the federal government controlling the majority of the state's land, Hayden also wished to involve the federal government in this process.
[Rice pp. 39–40] Hayden's first
bill, authorizing a railroad
right-of-way to
Fort Huachuca
Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation, established on 3 March 1877 as Camp Huachuca. The garrison is now under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command. It is in Cochise County in southeast Arizona, appr ...
, was introduced on March 1, 1912.
With the 1913 start to his first full term, Hayden supported
Woodrow Wilson's policies by voting for the
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 (, codified at , ), is a part of United States antitrust law with the goal of adding further substance to the U.S. antitrust law regime; the Clayton Act seeks to prevent anticompetitive practices in their incipie ...
,
Federal Reserve Act,
Underwood Tariff Act, and creation of the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
. He sponsored the
Grand Canyon National Park Act, and, in honor of his mother, he introduced a joint resolution calling for
women's suffrage.
In 1914, Hayden secured an extension of repayment times for loans made under the National Reclamation Act of 1902 from ten to twenty years. The extension included greater flexibility in the payment amounts during the early repayment period.
[August p. 48] An additional change in the way that reclamation projects were funded came in 1922 with passage of Hayden's legislation authorizing revenues from sale of hydroelectric power to be credited to repayment of project debts.
[Rice p. 90] Favoring local control of reclamation projects, in 1917 Hayden wrote legislation transferring financial obligations and operations of the
Salt River Project
The Salt River Project (SRP) is the umbrella name for two separate entities: the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, an agency of the state of Arizona that serves as an electrical utility for the Phoenix metropolitan a ...
from the
Bureau of Reclamation to a local government entity. The Bureau transferring control to local government agencies would become the model for future reclamation projects in
The West.
[August pp. 49–50] Other early efforts by Hayden included sponsoring the creation of the
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often consider ...
and the 1919 legislation resulting in the
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
[Johnson p. 154]

Beginning with an appropriation during his first term for the
United States Army Corps of Engineers to perform a study accessing the feasibility of building a flood control dam, Hayden sought to bring a reclamation project to the
Gila River
The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...
.
[August pp. 50–51] Following a favorable feasibility report on the project, Hayden introduced legislation authorizing the San Carlos Project in 1914. Bill opponents claimed that Arizona had already received an overly large share of federal reclamation funds and the legislation was defeated.
[August p. 55]
Using the fact that the
Pima Indians would be one of the primary beneficiaries of the project, Hayden switched tactics and, in 1916, began inserting a series of appropriations into the annual Indian Appropriations Act that paid for the construction of a diversion dam downstream of the planned reservoir. By 1922, the diversion dam was completed and named after Hayden and Arizona Senator
Henry Fountain Ashurst.
[August pp. 59–60] Final passage of the San Carlos project came in 1924 when Senator
Ralph H. Cameron
Ralph Henry Cameron (October 21, 1863 – February 12, 1953) was an American businessman, prospector and politician who served as both Arizona Territory's Delegate to Congress and as an Arizona United States Senator. As a Territorial delegate, h ...
, Arizona's sole Republican in the Republican-controlled
68th Congress
The 68th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923, ...
, reintroduced the San Carlos bill.
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
signed the bill into law after the name "
Coolidge Dam" was selected for the primary dam.
[August pp. 62, 66]
Hayden voted for
American entry into World War I and then successfully added an amendment to a military manpower bill that prohibited
conscripted personnel from avoiding military service by buying their way out and requiring all draftees to remain in the military until the end of the war. He also favored humane treatment of
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
s. In the summer of 1917 Hayden proposed to President Wilson that the Industrial Workers of the World labor union be declared an outlaw organization so that vigilantes could take care of them. As an officer in the
Arizona National Guard prior to the war,
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Hayden volunteered to join his unit and served as commander of the 9th battalion, 166th Depot Brigade at
Camp Lewis, Washington helping prepare his
division for active duty. The war ended before his unit was transferred to Europe.
[Rice pp. 170–71]
While still in the House of Representatives, Hayden became involved in a decades-long dispute over
water rights for the
Colorado River. California interests at the time wanted to construct a water storage dam along with an
All-American Canal to allow irrigation of the
Imperial Valley without routing the water through Mexico. Apportionment of the river's waters was a contentious issue and Arizona refused to approve the
Colorado River Compact designed to determine allocation of water to each of the states in Colorado's watershed.
As a result of this disagreement when Representative
Phil Swing and Senator
Hiram Johnson, both from California, introduced legislation authorizing the
Boulder Canyon Project, Hayden became a leader of the opposition.
[Speers, L.C.. "Seven States Dispute Over Boulder Dam", '' The New York Times'', February 13, 1927, pp. xx5.] To this end, Hayden engaged in a variety of
parliamentary procedures that prevented the Swing-Johnston bill reaching the House floor for a vote until after he had left the House of Representatives for the Senate.
Senate
During Hayden's first run for the Senate in 1926, he based his campaign on his record of defending Arizona's interests in the water rights dispute with California. To this effort his campaign poster was composed of editorial headlines from California newspapers decrying Hayden's effectiveness at preventing passage of the Swing-Johnson Bill authorizing construction of Boulder Dam.
[August pp. 128–130] The campaign saw allegations of misconduct raised with incumbent
Ralph H. Cameron
Ralph Henry Cameron (October 21, 1863 – February 12, 1953) was an American businessman, prospector and politician who served as both Arizona Territory's Delegate to Congress and as an Arizona United States Senator. As a Territorial delegate, h ...
claiming Hayden had used a slush fund received from out-of-state interests. An inquiry led by Senator
William H. King
William Henry King (June 3, 1863November 27, 1949) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist from Salt Lake City, Utah. As a Democrat, King represented Utah in the United States Senate from 1917 until 1941.
Life
King was born in Fillmore, U ...
was begun several days before the election and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
["Arizona Inquiry Ordered", '' The New York Times'', October 29, 1926, p. 5.][Rice pp. 231–234] "Senator Cameron's 'slush fund' charges proved to be a boomerang which added considerably to my majority" observed Hayden after the election.
Upon Hayden's election to the Senate, he received what Senator
Thomas J. Walsh
Thomas James Walsh (June 12, 1859March 2, 1933) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Helena, Montana who represented Montana in the US Senate from 1913 to 1933. He was initially elected by the state legislature, and from 1 ...
called "choice committee assignments", including a seat on the
Appropriations Committee.
[August p. 130] As a result of his seat on the Appropriations Committee, much of Hayden's efforts in the Senate were shifted away from policy making functions and toward control, allocation, and oversight of the financial funds used to implement legislated policy. Other committee assignments that would help shape his Senate career included
Interior and Insular Affairs,
Post Office and Post Roads,
Rules and Administration, and the
United States Congress Joint Committee on Printing.
[Rice p. 190]
1920s

Upon moving to the Senate in March 1927, Hayden continued his opposition to the Boulder Canyon Project. With growing national support for the project, however, it became obvious to Hayden that passage of the bill was inevitable. Seeking time to gain terms more favorable to Arizona, he continued his opposition with the aid of two
filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
s from Arizona's other Senator,
Henry F. Ashurst
Henry Fountain Ashurst (September 13, 1874 – May 31, 1962) was an American Democratic politician and one of the first two Senators from Arizona. Largely self-educated, he served as a district attorney and member of the Arizona Territorial l ...
, and was able to delay a vote of the full Senate on the measure until the end of the
70th Congress
The 70th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1927 ...
' first session. When the Swing-Johnston bill came up for a vote on May 28, 1928, Hayden made his first speech from the floor of the Senate, a filibuster in which he spoke for nine hours during an all-night session before allowing Ashurst to take over for another twelve hours.
[August pp. 133–135][Rice pp. 113–117]
Passage of the Boulder Canyon Project came shortly after Congress reconvened in December 1928. Politically unpopular in Arizona, the final bill did contain several important concessions for Arizona. An amendment by Nevada Senator
Key Pittman was added to the bill and set water allotments from the Colorado to per year to Nevada, per year to California and per year to Arizona with exclusive rights to all waters from the Gila River also going to Arizona. The final bill also included authorization to pay both Arizona and Nevada an amount comparable to the tax revenues that would be generated if the dam had been built by private enterprise.
[August pp. 135–136] Following passage of the bill, Hayden switched his form of opposition by working to deny funds for the Boulder Canyon Project.
[August p. 140]
1930s
Hayden's 1932 campaign saw him coming close to defeat. Votes against early payment of the World War I
veterans' bonus and for
prohibition, the Senate vote for repeal of prohibition not coming until 1933, caused him to lose support from his
Depression-era constituents and he only won a
plurality
Plurality may refer to:
Voting
* Plurality (voting), or relative majority, when a given candidate receives more votes than any other but still fewer than half of the total
** Plurality voting, system in which each voter votes for one candidate and ...
during the primary. Hayden later speculated that if he had faced only one opponent, he might not have won.
[Rice pp. 234–235]
With President
Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932 election and the start of the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
, Hayden dropped opposition of the Boulder Canyon Project and began lobbying for additional irrigation and hydroelectric projects. He actively supported the
Central Valley Project and acted as floor manager for the
Grand Coulee Dam's appropriation legislation. Due to Hayden's efforts, Senator
Warren Magnuson of
Washington would later call him "the father of the Grand Coulee Dam".
[Rice p. 96] When demands for new projects during the 1930s drained the Reclamation Fund faster than repayments could replenish it, Hayden worked with Senator
Joseph C. O'Mahoney of
Wyoming to secure new funding by allocating revenue from offshore oil reserves to the Reclamation Fund.
[Rice p. 98][August p. 143]

Due to Hayden's seat on the Senate Committee on Post Office and Post Roads, he worked on a number of legislative initiatives promoting highway transportation. His interest in the subject was such that President Roosevelt asked why he always wished to talk about roads, to which Hayden replied, "Because Arizona has two things people will drive thousands of miles to see—
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
and the
Petrified Forest. They can't get there without roads."
The first piece of legislation came in 1933 with US$400 million in federal
matching funds
Matching funds are funds that are set to be paid in proportion to funds available from other sources. Matching fund payments usually arise in situations of charity or public good. The terms cost sharing, in-kind, and matching can be used interc ...
targeted at highway construction included in the
National Industrial Recovery Act. This was followed the next year when Hayden and
Oklahoma Representative Wilburn Cartwright introduced the
Hayden-Cartwright Act.
This act was the first that allowed for funds to be used for advanced planning of future roads. It also allowed federal funds to be used for roads in urban areas, instead of just rural routes, and created disincentives to prevent states from diverting highway funds to other projects. A
second Hayden-Cartwright Act authorized use of federal funds to build roads on
Indian reservation
An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...
s and
national parks and
forests. In addition to road construction, Hayden also had an interest in promoting
highway safety
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road ...
, joining with first-term
Missouri Senator
Harry S. Truman in 1939 to propose legislation cutting federal funds by a third for states that failed to enact
licensing requirements along with other portions of the
Uniform Vehicle Code.
In addition to his support of reclamation and highway projects, Hayden was also involved in other efforts to promote economic growth during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. A proposal made in 1932 would have allowed repayment of
war debts to the United States to be made in silver at a discounted rate. The plan was intended to raise the price of silver, increasing the value of US silver holdings and silver coinage worldwide. Effects of the depression however prevented repayment of most war debts and rendered the plan moot.
["New Impetus Given to Reviving Silver", '' The New York Times'', May 7, 1932, p. 23.][Rice p. 69] Hayden also sponsored legislation creating the Farmers Home Administration, authorizing government-insured loans to farmers.
1940s
With the 1940s and the coming of
World War II, Hayden's focus shifted from public works to war-time needs. He lobbied a variety of Arizona groups to make land available and touting the favorable year-round flying weather, he assisted with the creation of a number of military bases throughout his home state, including the
Luke and
Williams training bases. An Army Desert Training Center built in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California was also used by American troops preparing for the
North African campaign.
[Rice p. 173] As the United States prepared for possible war, Hayden in August 1940 advocated the use of volunteers instead of conscription to obtain needed manpower. He also introduced amendments prohibiting payment of money to avoid military service, draftees procuring substitutes, and securing of enlistments by the paying of bounties.
[Rice p. 171]
In 1945, Hayden suffered a personal tragedy when his wife, Nan, had a stroke. As a result, she was able to stand but could no longer walk and required the assistance of a nurse.
[Rice pp. 53–54] Her need for assistance would continue until her death on June 25, 1961.
["Mrs. Carl Hayden", '' The New York Times'', June 26, 1961, p. 31.]

Following a 1944 treaty with Mexico granting the nation per year of Colorado River water, Hayden began direct efforts to bring water from the river to
Phoenix,
Tucson, and the irrigable Arizona farmlands between the cities. To this end, he and Arizona's other senator,
Ernest McFarland, introduced legislation in 1946 to build the
Central Arizona Project. Unsuccessful in their first attempt, they reintroduced the legislation in 1947 where it passed the Senate but was defeated in the House by opposition from the California delegation.
[August pp. 150, 157–158, 166]
The 1940s started an era of key committee chairmanships for Hayden. Due to the declining health of
Kenneth McKellar, Hayden periodically served as acting chairman of the Appropriations committee during the 1940s and the 1950s. This activity included a significant amount of behind the scenes work with the committee's ranking Republican, Senator
Styles Bridges
Henry Styles Bridges (September 9, 1898November 26, 1961) was an American teacher, editor, and Republican Party politician from Concord, New Hampshire. He served one term as the 63rd governor of New Hampshire before a twenty-four-year career ...
, and enhanced Hayden's reputation for operating in Senate cloakrooms.
[Rice p. 195] Starting with the
81st Congress
The 81st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 194 ...
, Hayden became chairman of the
Senate Rules Committee.
1950s
Hayden's efforts to gain approval for the Central Arizona Project continued into the 1950s. Hayden and McFarland reintroduced their previous legislation in 1951 but it was again defeated in the House, this time due to concerns that full appropriation of Colorado waters had not occurred.
[August pp. 168–174] The legislative setback prompted Arizona to file suit in the
United States Supreme Court seeking adjudication of the water rights issue. The case, ''
Arizona v. California
''Arizona v. California'' is a set of United States Supreme Court cases, all dealing with disputes over water distribution from the Colorado River between the states of Arizona and California. It also covers the amount of water that the State of ...
'', was accepted by the court on January 19, 1953, and would take over a decade to decide.
[August pp. 175–176] In other reclamation efforts Hayden cosponsored the Colorado River Storage Act of 1956, authorizing construction of the
Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page, Arizona, Page. The high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powe ...
and three other water storage dams.
[Rice p. 99]
The stable political environment in Arizona that Hayden had enjoyed during most of his career began to change by the 1950s. Following World War II, large numbers of
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
ern expatriates moved to Arizona and bolstered the growth of the Republican Party within the state. While he was still popular with long-term Arizona residents, many of the new arrivals were unfamiliar with Hayden's congressional record. As a result, during the 1956 election Hayden's campaign produced a number of television and radio appearances designed to inform voters of the Senator's accomplishments and dispel rumors of failing health and senility.
The campaign also took advantage of a ''New York Times Magazine'' article that provided a complimentary portrait of Hayden's service in the Senate.
[August pp. 178–179]
In 1956, Hayden was involved in a legal dispute when a
United States district court judge issued a
restraining order
A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault.
Restraining and personal protection or ...
blocking the publication of a Senate pamphlet. Hayden, who was then the chairman of the
Joint Committee on Printing, charged the order was unconstitutional and stated, "If a court can enjoin Congress from issuing a report it will only be a matter of time before our remarks on the floor of the Senate or the House of Representatives would be subject to a judicial review and a complete breakdown of the constitutional principal of
separation of powers would ensue."
["Ban on Pamphlet Defied by Hayden", '' The New York Times'', May 4, 1956, p. 12.]
Following a Printing Committee vote to ignore the order, Hayden directed the
Government Printing Office to "disregard as unconstitutional the processes of any court in this case." The court ruling was later set aside by another federal judge stating the order had "constituted an unwarranted and unauthorized action by the judiciary" that interfered with the government's legislative function.
[2d Judge Upsets Ban on Pamphlet", '' The New York Times'', May 5, 1956, p. 19.]
At the beginning of the
84th Congress
The 84th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1955 ...
, Hayden gave up his chairmanship of the Senate Rules Committee in order to become chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
[Rice p. 196] The year 1955 saw him become a member of the newly formed Senate Democratic Policy Committee.
[Rice p. 214] Hayden also set several records for length of service, breaking
Adolph Sabath's record for continuous service in Congress on October 21, 1957, and
Joseph G. Cannon
Joseph Gurney Cannon (May 7, 1836 – November 12, 1926) was an American politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives ...
's record for total length of service in Congress on February 19, 1958.
["Hayden, 46 Years in Congress, Gets Bipartisan Tribute", '' The New York Times'', February 20, 1958, p. 1.] Hayden's record for longest service was not broken until November 18, 2009, by
Robert Byrd.
[Nowicki, Dan.]
End of a record for state's 'Silent Senator'
, ''The Arizona Republic'', November 16, 2009.
1960s

During 1962, Hayden came to national attention due to a dispute over procedural issues between the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Appropriations Committee. Billed in the press as a feud between two octogenarian chairmen, Hayden and Representative
Clarence Cannon, the dispute began over the issue of where
conference committees to resolve appropriation issues would meet. The Constitution required that all appropriations bills must originate in the House while long-standing tradition of the time held that conference committee meetings occurred on the Senate side of the
United States Capitol with a senator chairing the committee. The dispute began in January 1962 when members of the House appropriations committee passed a resolution calling for the meeting location of the conference committee to be evenly split between the House and Senate side of the Capitol building. In response to this, the Senate appropriations committee passed a resolution calling for half of all appropriations bills to originate in the Senate. By April, Hayden had arranged for a meeting room located midway between the two chambers but House members refused to discuss the issue face-to-face until July, when US$55 billion in unapproved appropriations threatened to force a
government shutdown.
[Rice p. 206]
During Hayden's final campaign in 1962, the Central Arizona Project was the central issue. State leaders saw his seniority as being key in gaining approval for the project. To aid his re-election, campaign staff arranged for a series of events to celebrate Hayden's fiftieth anniversary in Congress and raise awareness of his achievements. A series of viral infections suffered by the senator over the course of the year prompted rumors that the 85-year-old senator had died. To refute these rumors, Hayden held a press conference at
Bethesda Naval Hospital three days before the election.
[August 179–181][(November 16, 1962)]
Arizona: Message Received
. '' Time'' 80 (20): 25. Despite a growing Republican trend in Arizona, Hayden's Republican challenger, state representative and future governor
Evan Mecham, only got lukewarm support from the state party. Arizona's Republican establishment felt Hayden's seniority was crucial for ensuring the project would pass. Ultimately, Hayden won a record seventh term, but only tallied 54.9 percent of the vote—easily the closest race of his Senate career, and his closest since his first bid for a full term in the House half a century earlier.
The events of the decade resulted in Hayden twice advancing to second place on the
presidential line of succession. The first occurrence came on November 16, 1961, with the death of
House Speaker
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerfo ...
Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...
when Hayden followed Vice President
Lyndon B. Johnson and lasted until a new Speaker was elected. The second occurrence began with the November 22, 1963 assassination of President
John F. Kennedy and continued until
Hubert Humphrey became vice president on January 20, 1965. When asked of his plans if he had succeeded to the presidency, Hayden replied "I'd call Congress together, have the House elect a new speaker, and then I'd resign and let him become president."
[Johnson p. 156]
Hayden's final legislative success was authorization of the Central Arizona Project. On June 4, 1963, one day after the Supreme Court issued a decision in ''Arizona v. California'' favorable to Arizona, Hayden joined with the rest of his state's congressional delegation in reintroducing legislation authorizing the water project. As in the bill's previous efforts, Hayden's influence was able to secure passage of the legislation in the Senate while passage in the House proved difficult. Initial opposition from the California delegation subsided by early 1965 after Governor
Pat Brown declared, "California will not attempt to win by obstruction what it has not won by litigation", only to be replaced by opposition from Colorado Representative
Wayne Aspinall.
[Rice p. 144] Aspinall, chairman of the
House Interior Committee, refused to hold hearings on Hayden's bill. In response to the delays, Hayden waited until Aspinall returned home for vacation and then added his proposed bill as a rider to
pork barrel
''Pork barrel'', or simply ''pork'', is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district.
The usage originated in American English, and i ...
bill containing patronage for a large number of Congressmen. In response to Hayden's maneuver, Aspinall returned from vacation to hold hearings on the Central Arizona Project.
[(October 20, 1967)]
Hayden's Rough Rider
.
Final approval for the Central Arizona Project came on September 30, 1968, a day declared by President Johnson as "Carl Hayden Day".
["Carl Hayden Day", '' The New York Times'', October 1, 1968, p. 42.] Hayden remarked on the occasion, "My efforts in behalf of the Central Arizona Project, began while I was still a Congressman and I consider it ... the most significant accomplishment of my career."
[August p. 69]
Professional disposition
Hayden kept a considerably lower national profile than conventional wisdom would suggest for someone who spent more than half a century in Washington, including 42 years in the Senate. This came in part due to a conversation he had with
Maryland Congressman
Fred Talbott soon after he arrived in Washington in 1912. Talbott told him, "Son, there are two kinds of Congressmen—show horses and work horses. If you want to get your name in the papers, be a show horse. But if you want to gain the respect of your colleagues, don't do it. Be a work horse."
Hayden quickly earned a reputation as a "service congressman" who faithfully responded to constituent mail, inserting vegetable or flower seed packets in his replies.
[Johnson p. 153] Hayden believed that partisanship should end on election day, and his constituent service was performed in a nonpartisan manner.
[Rice p. 41]
During his time in office, Hayden avoided publicity and speech making. Following his filibuster of Boulder Dam, Hayden did not make another speech from the Senate floor for 20 years. By his later years, many of his congressional colleagues had not heard him make a full speech.
["The Silent Senator", '' The New York Times'', November 18, 1961, p. 12.][Baker, Russell. "Senator Hayden, 84, Will Mark Half-Century in Congress Today", '' The New York Times'', February 19, 1962, p. 1.] His avoidance of public speaking did not impair Hayden in his duties, with then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson saying "He is living proof that effectiveness and statesmanship are not necessarily coupled with talkativeness"
and Arthur Edson of the Associated Press writing, "He has kept his mouth shut while astutely pushing out invisible tentacles of power".
[
]
After office
Hayden announced his retirement on May 6, 1968, saying "Among other things that fifty-six years in Congress have taught me is that contemporary events need contemporary men. Time actually makes specialists of us all. When a house is built there is a moment for the foundation, another for the walls, the roof and so on. Arizona's foundation includes fast highways, adequate electric power, and abundant water, and these foundations have been laid. It is time for a new building crew to report, so I have decided to retire from office at the close of my term this year."[August p. 201] Hayden recommended long-term aide Roy Elson
Roy L. Elson (October 1, 1930 – February 25, 2010)http://death-records.mooseroots.com/l/167708824/Roy-Lane-Elson was an American politician from Arizona, and a onetime aide and protégé of longtime U.S. Senator Carl Hayden (D-AZ). He was perha ...
to succeed him.[(May 20, 1968) "Hayden's Era: The Senator Who Changed the Face of The West". '' U.S. News & World Report'' 64 (21): 22.] Elson lost his election bid to former Senator Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
.
Following his retirement from Congress, Hayden returned to Tempe and set up an office in Arizona State University's Charles Trumbull Hayden library. In addition to organizing the papers he collected during his career, he also wrote a biography of his father and worked on a project documenting the lives of Arizona's pioneers.[August pp. 206–207] He became ill in the middle of January 1972 and died on January 25, 1972. He was buried in Tempe's Double Butte Cemetery. Speakers at Hayden's memorial service included Goldwater and former President Lyndon B. Johnson.[August p. 207]
In response to his long tenure in Congress, multiple projects have been named after him. On September 29, 1957, Phoenix Union High School District dedicated Carl Hayden High School.[Rice p. 180] This was followed by the Maricopa County Democratic Committee lobbying for Glen Canyon Dam to be named Hayden Dam, a move that Hayden personally opposed. In 1969, the visitor center overlooking Glen Canyon Dam was named after the long-term senator.[Rice pp. 101–102] Naming efforts even continued after Hayden's death with the US Department of Agriculture'
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
being named in 1978 followed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
' Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in 1987.["Name for Bee Center Approved", '' The New York Times'', August 9, 1978, p. A9.] A bust of Hayden was added to the Senate sculpture collection and placed in the Russell Senate Office Building in 1986.Carl Hayden
''Art & History: Sculptures''. United States Senate. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
Congressional elections results
References
Works cited
* August, Jack L., Jr. (1999). ''Vision in the Desert: Carl Hayden and Hydropolitics in the American Southwest'', introduction by Bruce Babbitt, Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press. .
* Johnson, James W. (2002). ''Arizona Politicians: The Noble and the Notorious'', illustrations by David 'Fitz' Fitzsimmons, Tucson: University of Arizona Press. .
* Rice, Ross R. (1994). ''Carl Hayden: Builder of the American West''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. .
Further reading
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Carl T.
1877 births
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20th-century American politicians
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Arizona pioneers
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Politicians from Tempe, Arizona
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