long-time member of both houses of Congress

Carl Trumbull Hayden was born in Hayden's Ferry (now Tempe), Arizona, on October 2, 1877. He attended the local public schools, graduated from the Normal School of Arizona at Tempe in 1896, and from Leland Stanford Junior University, California, in 1900. Until 1904 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits and the flour-milling business.

Hayden's political career began when he was elected to the Tempe Town Council in 1902, upon which he served until 1904. He subsequently served as Treasurer of Maricopa County (1904-1906) and Sheriff of Maricopa County (1907-1912).

In 1912, Hayden was elected as a Democrat to be one of Arizona's first members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and he ultimately served from February 19, 1912, to March 3, 1927.

Hayden did not seek renomination to the House in 1926, choosing instead to run for the U.S. Senate. He went on to serve in the Senate from March 4, 1927, to January 3, 1969. Senator Hayden rarely spoke on the floor, preferring to work behind the scenes in committee. Among his most notable achievements were: co-sponsoring the Hayden-Cartwright Act, which was aimed at putting unemployed men back to work during the Great Depression; being floor manager of the bill that established the Grand Canyon National Park; and, sponsoring the 19th Amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to vote. He served as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee from 1955 to 1969, and as President Pro Tempore of the Senate from 1957 to 1969. He chose not to run for re-election in 1968.

Senator Carl T. Hayden died in Mesa, Arizona, on January 25, 1972. His cremains are interred in the family plot at Tempe Butte Cemetery, in Tempe, Arizona.

Hayden's record of 56 consecutive years of service in Congress remains unsurpassed to this day, as does his 42-year run in the Senate.

SOURCES
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress bioguide.congress.gov
Hayden Arizona Pioneer Biographies Collection www.asu.edu

SEE ALSO
Arizona
Grand Canyon National Park

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This page was last updated on June 06, 2017.