Famous anti-Vietnam war activist Tom Hayden dies aged 76

Famous American anti-war activist Tom Hayden has died aged 76.

Hayden died in his home in Santa Monica, California, "after a lengthy illness", the Los Angeles Times reports.

"A political giant and dear friend has passed," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wrote on Twitter, adding "Tom Hayden fought harder for what he believed than just about anyone I have known."

A political giant and dear friend has passed. Tom Hayden fought harder for what he believed than just about anyone I have known. RIP, Tom.

— Eric Garcetti (@ericgarcetti) October 24, 2016

Hayden, who forged his political activism as a founding member of Students for a Democratic Society, which stood at the core of the 1960s anti-war and civil rights movements, was the principal author of the group's revolutionary manifesto, the Port Huron Statement.

As a University of Michigan student, he ventured into the Deep South, where he joined voter registration campaigns and was arrested and beaten while taking part in the "freedom rider" protests against racial segregation.

Hayden was best known as one of the "Chicago Eight" activists who were tried on conspiracy and incitement charges following protests against the Vietnam war at the turbulent 1968 Democratic National Convention. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

Hayden went on to serve a total of 18 years after winning the election to the California state Assembly in 1982, and then the state Senate a decade later.

Later he became director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center, a nonprofit left-wing think tank devoted mainly to analysis of continued US military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, drug policy and global poverty.

Hayden was married to actress Jane Fonda from 1973 to 1990, with whom he had two children.