Public Information

Name

Hayden, Carl

Class

2004

Biography

(1877-1972) Born in Hayden’s Ferry (now Tempe), Maricopa County Arizona. Commissioned a Major in the U.S. Army during WWI. Sheriff of Maricopa County, 1907-1912. Elected to U.S. Congress, serving from 1912 to 1927. Elected to U.S. Senate in 1926 and re-elected continuously until January, 1969, having never lost an election. Authored/sponsored legislation to put unemployed men back to work during the Great Depression; to establish system of national parks and monuments; support educational and health programs for Indian people; and develop military and air base construction in South, West, and Arizona. Legislative highlight was approval in 1968 of the nation’s largest water project, the Central Arizona Project (CAP), to transport Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson via a series of aqueducts. Considered by many to be single most important individual in shaping Arizona’s growth.