Michael Vincent Hayden (born March 17, 1945) is a retiredUnited States Air Forcefour-stargeneral and formerdirector of the National Security Agency, Principal DeputyDirector of National Intelligence, andDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency. He currently works as a visiting professor at theGeorge Mason University –Schar School of Policy and Government and co-chairs theBipartisan Policy Center's Electric Grid Cyber Security Initiative.[2]
He was Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) from 1999 to 2005. There he initiated and oversaw the NSA surveillance of digital communications between persons in the United States and foreign citizens who allegedly had ties toterrorist groups, which resulted in theNSA warrantless surveillance. On April 21, 2005, then Lt. Gen Hayden was confirmed by theUnited States Senate as the first PrincipalDeputy Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and awarded his fourth star, making him "the highest-ranking military intelligence officer in the armed forces".[3]
On May 26, 2006, Hayden was appointed as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He retired from the Air Force in April 2008, after 41 years of service, while continuing to serve as Director of the CIA until February 12, 2009.[4]
Michael Vincent Hayden was born on March 17, 1945,[1] inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, to an Irish-American couple, Sadie (Murray) and Harry V. Hayden Jr.,[5] who worked as a welder for a Pennsylvania manufacturing company. He has a sister, Debby, and a brother, Harry.
Hayden attended St. Peter's Elementary School where, in 7th and 8th grade he played quarterback on the school football team and was coached by the lateDan Rooney, the son of the founder of thePittsburgh Steelers. Hayden graduated fromNorth Catholic High School. One of his first jobs was as an equipment manager for the Steelers.[6] He went on toDuquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he earned aBachelor of Arts in history in 1967 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He then attended graduate school at Duquesne for amaster's degree in modernAmerican history.
Hayden was commissioned throughDuquesne University'sAir Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps program,[7] and entered active military service in 1969.
Hayden worked at the U.S. Embassy in the then-People's Republic ofBulgaria and in intelligence inGuam. He served on theNational Security Council, Washington, D.C. and in senior staff positions forPentagon,U.S. European Command headquarters inStuttgart, and then as deputy chief of staff for theUnited Nations Command andU.S. Forces Korea,Yongsan Garrison. The general served as director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center, atLackland Air Force Base.
From 1996 to 1997, Hayden remained at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, as commander of theAir Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency. AIA is staffed by 16,000 personnel charged with defending and exploiting the "information domain".[8]
In February of 1999 Hayden was nominated by President Bill Clinton be the director of the NSA and chief of theCentral Security Service atFort George G. Meade,Maryland. He served in that capacity 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.[9]
Hayden came to the NSA at a time of upheaval in the agency. Internal government analysis indicated it suffered from a lack of quality management and outdatedIT infrastructure. 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, convince older managers to retire, and generally overhaul management structures. He also wanted to increase openness at the agency, as it had historically been one of the most secretive organs of government. He even allowedJames Bamford access for his bookBody of Secrets.[10] Initially, Hayden was extremely concerned with following laws against domestic surveillance.[11][12]
On 9/11, Hayden immediately evacuated all non-essential personnel from NSA headquarters. After 9/11, the agency greatly increased its activity. Many reports say that after 9/11, Hayden became increasingly concerned with stopping terrorism, and allegedly softened his stance against domestic surveillance.[10][12] Hayden said that he believed everything the agency was doing was "effective, appropriate, and lawful".[13] Details about the NSA's operations have been largely hidden, but it played a major role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and thewar on terror. One notable example is the NSA's relationship with theunmanned aerial vehicle 'drone' program.[14][page needed]
Hayden also championed theTrailblazer Project, a "transformation" effort to better apply information technology. The project was criticized internally by some NSA staff, for omitting privacy protections for United States citizens. Such omissions constituted a potential failure, subjecting the NSA to external critical feedback, including Diane S Roark, of theHouse Intelligence Committee. NSA employeesThomas Andrews Drake,William Binney, and J. Kirk Wiebe voiced similar concerns. Hayden rebuked these NSA staff and several resigned in protest. After investigation by the NSA inspector general, the DOD inspector general, and Congress, Trailblazer was shut down.[13]
As part of theIntelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the CIA director would no longer run the intelligence community. Instead, a new office was created for this purpose: the Office of theDirector of National Intelligence (ODNI). General Hayden became the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence from May 2005 to May 2006 under the first Director,John Negroponte.
On January 23, 2006, Hayden appeared at a news conference.[15] A C-Span video[16] was posted of Hayden telling reporters in attendance that "probable cause" is not required for all searches or seizures under theFourth Amendment, claiming instead that the standard is whether the search or seizure is reasonable. "Probable cause" is required for all warrants, whether or not the search or seizure is deemed to be "unreasonable".
On May 8, 2006, Hayden was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency after the resignation ofPorter J. Goss on May 5, 2006.[17] Hayden was confirmed on May 26, 2006, as CIA director, 78–15, by fullU.S. Senate vote.[18]
In May 2006,USA Today reported that, under Hayden's leadership, the NSA created adomestic telephone call database. During his CIA director nomination hearings, Hayden defended his actions to SenatorRuss Feingold and others. Hayden stated that he had relied upon legal advice from theWhite House, that warrantless surveillance would not 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.[19]
Critics of the Hayden's nomination and his attempts to increase domestic surveillance included SenatorDianne 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".[20][21]
In 2007, Hayden pushed to allow the CIA to conduct drone strikes purely on the behavior of ground vehicles, with no further evidence of connection to terrorism.[22]
Hayden has been accused of lying toCongress during his 2007 testimony about the CIA's 'enhanced interrogation program.[23][24] Many critics of enhanced interrogation techniques maintain that they weretorture and did not yield reliable information from CIA detainees.[25] Hayden said the notion that enhanced interrogation never yields useful intelligence is not credible and is merely the opinion of "interrogation deniers".[25] The 2014Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture cited an email indicating that as CIA Director, Hayden instructed that out-of-date information be used in briefing Congress so that fewer than 100 Guantanamo Bay detainees would be reported.[26]
In 2008 Hayden warned of the destabilizing consequences ofMuslim migration to Europe, and that it might cause mass outbreaks ofcivil unrest.[27]
In his memoir,Leon Panetta said that Hayden had hoped to be retained as CIA director by the Obama administration.[28] Panetta was appointed instead. In conversations with Panetta, Hayden encouraged him to advise the president to protect the CIA's right to engage inenhanced interrogation techniques as well as to avoid suggesting that CIA officers had ever tortured terrorists.[28]
In September 2013, Hayden stressed the indisputable legality of "what the NSA is doing" and calledEdward Snowden a "troubled young man" and "morally arrogant to a tremendous degree".[29]
In December 2013, after theP5+1 reached anuclear agreement with Iran, Hayden said, "We have accepted Iranian uranium enrichment."[30]
Hayden worked for a number of years as a principal at theChertoff Group, a security consultancy, but left at the end of 2022. He serves on the board of directors of theAtlantic Council,[31] and co-founded theMichael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security. Hayden is currently on the advisory board ofNewsGuard.[32]
In January 2025,President Trump revoked Michael Hayden's security clearance.[33]
During his tenure as director, Hayden oversaw the controversial NSA surveillance of technological communications between persons in the United States and alleged foreignterrorist groups. Numerous commentators have accused Hayden of lying to congress, and breaking the law.[21] Hayden misled Congress in his 2002 testimony, when he testified that any surveillance of persons in the United States was consistent with theForeign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA); in fact, legislative branch statutes forbidwarrantless surveillance of domestic calls unless approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court under FISA.[34] InUnited States v. Moalin (2020), theU.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NSA program ofmass surveillance of Americans' telephone records violated FISA and possibly theFourth Amendment.[35][36]
On 20 August 2020, Hayden, a political independent, along with over 130 former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted thatPresident Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."[37]
In early October 2020, he endorsedJoe Biden in thepresidential election.[38]
In response to a request made by future Secretary of StateAntony Blinken, Hayden was one of the 51 former U.S. intelligence officials who signed an October 19, 2020, letter that said theHunter Biden laptop story "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."[39]
In October 2023, Hayden posted on social media that SenatorTommy Tuberville, who had been delaying certain military promotions in the Senate, should be "removed" from the human race.[40] Hayden's comments were perceived by the news media as an apparent threat to and possible call for Tuberville's assassination.[40] Later, Hayden appeared to double down on his comments on Tuberville being "removed" from the human race, saying that "MAGAnuts had lost their mind" over hisTwitter posts. In reaction, GeneralMichael Flynn said that Hayden should be arrested.[41] Tuberville reported Hayden to theUnited States Capitol Police for the comments, saying that Hayden had called for his "politically motivated assassination".[42]
On January 20, 2025 President Donald J. Trump revoked the security clearances of Michael Hayden rendering him excluded from the U.S.A. Intelligence Services for what the President described as "willfully weaponizing the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions."[43]
Hayden is married to the former Jeanine Carrier. They have a daughter Margaret and two sons, Michael and Liam. Hayden continues to be an avid fan of his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, traveling with his wife to several games a year.[6]
In November 2018, Hayden was hospitalized after suffering a stroke.[44] He recovered, but now suffers fromaphasia as a result.[45]
 MasterIntelligence Badge |
 Presidential Service Badge |
Effective dates of promotion[3]
| 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[1] |
 | First lieutenant | June 7, 1970 |
 | Second lieutenant | June 2, 1967 |
In 2007, Hayden received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[49] In 2008, in his nativeNorthside neighborhood, the city of Pittsburgh named a part of a street going pastHeinz Field in his honor.[50]
On July 26, 2011, Hayden was inducted into theAir Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Alumni in a ceremony atMaxwell AFB, Alabama, officiated by Lt. Gen. Allen G. Peck, commander,Air University.[7] He serves as a member of the board of advisors of the Military Cyber Professionals Association (MCPA)[51]
Playing to the Edge was one ofThe New York Times Book Review's 100 Most Notable Books of 2016.[53]
January 23, 2006, his testimony that, "One senior executive confided that the data management needs we outlined to him were larger than any he had previously seen"
The Director of the CIA, General Michael Hayden, is presented with the Golden Plate Award by John Negroponte
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Director of the National Security Agency 1999–2005 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence 2005–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Director of the Central Intelligence Agency 2006–2009 | Succeeded by |
 | ||
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