Portrait of Michael Hayden (general)

Birthday profile

Michael Hayden (general)

Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Born
March 17, 1945
Age in 2026
81
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1945

About Michael Hayden (general)

Michael Vincent Hayden (born March 17, 1945) is a retired United States Air Force four-star general and former director of the National Security Agency, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He currently works as a visiting professor at the George Mason University – Schar School of Policy and Government and co-chairs the Bipartisan Policy Center's Electric Grid Cyber Security Initiative. Hayden was director of the National Security Agency (NSA) from 1999 to 2005. In this role, he initiated and oversaw the NSA surveillance of digital communications between persons in the United States and foreign citizens who allegedly had ties to terrorist groups, which resulted in the NSA warrantless surveillance. On April 21, 2005, then Lt. Gen Hayden was confirmed by the United States Senate as the first Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and awarded his fourth star, making him "the highest-ranking military intelligence officer in the armed forces". 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. == Early life and education == Michael Vincent Hayden was born on March 17, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to an Irish-American couple, Sadie (Murray) and Harry V. Hayden Jr., who worked as a welder for a Pennsylvania manufacturing company. He has a sister, Debby, and a brother, Harry.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Michael Hayden (general) was born

Michael Hayden (general) was born in 1945. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1945

  • #1 song"Sentimental Journey" – Les Brown & Doris Day
  • Top movieThe Lost Weekend
  • Best-selling bookAnimal Farm – George Orwell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentDetroit Tigers win the World Series
  • Top headlineWorld War II ends after atomic bombs dropped on Japan
  • Technology milestoneAtomic bomb developed and detonated (Manhattan Project)
  • Defining fadV-J Day celebrations
  • Notable inventionMicrowave oven (accidental discovery)
  • World population2.40 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt / Harry S. Truman
  • Sports championDetroit Tigers (World Series)
  • U.S. population139.9M

1945 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michael Hayden (general)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19452026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,900$435,000
Average income$4,100$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.30$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population139.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.