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 and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency . From April 21 , 2005 to May 26 , 2006 he was the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence , a position which once made him " the highest - ranking military intelligence officer in the armed forces " . He was Director of the National Security Agency ( NSA ) from 1999 to 2005 . During his tenure as director , he oversaw the controversial NSA surveillance of technological communications between persons in the United States and alleged foreign terrorist groups , which resulted in the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy . On May 8 , 2006 , Hayden was nominated for the position of CIA Director and reappointment to the rank of general following the May 5 resignation of Porter J . Goss , and on May 23 the Senate Intelligence Committee voted 12 – 3 to send the nomination to the Senate floor . His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 26 by a vote of 78 – 15 . On May 30 , 2006 and again the following day at the CIA lobby with President George W . Bush in attendance , Hayden was sworn in as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency . On July 1 , 2008 , Hayden retired from the Air Force after nearly 39 years of active - duty military service and continued to serve as Director of the CIA until 12 February 2009 . He is currently a principal at the Chertoff Group , a security consultancy co - founded by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff . Hayden also serves as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University School of Public Policy and was elected to the Board of Directors of Motorola Solutions effective January 4 , 2011 . Early life , career , and family . Michael Vincent Hayden was born on St . Patrick ' s Day in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania to an Irish - American couple , Sadie and Harry Hayden , Jr . who worked as a welder for a Pennsylvania manufacturing company . He has a sister , Debby , and a brother , Harry . He went to St . Peter ' s Elementary school where , in 7th and 8th grade he played quarterback on the school football team then being coached by Dan Rooney , the son of the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers , and current Chairman of the team . One of Hayden ' s first jobs was as an equipment manager for the Steelers . Hayden went on to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where he earned a B . A . in history in 1967 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant . He then attended graduate school at Duquesne for an M . A . in modern American History . He continues to be an avid fan of the hometown Pittsburgh Steelers , since the 1990s commuting with his wife and family to at least 3 - 4 games a year . He was commissioned through University of Pittsburgh ' s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program . Hayden entered active military service in 1969 . Hayden has served as commander of the Air Intelligence Agency and Director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center , both headquartered at Lackland Air Force Base . He also has served in senior staff positions in the Pentagon ; Headquarters U . S . European Command , Stuttgart , Germany ; the National Security Council , Washington , D . C . , and the U . S . Embassy in the then - People ' s Republic of Bulgaria . Prior to his current assignment , the general served as deputy chief of staff for United Nations Command and U . S . Forces Korea , Yongsan Garrison . He has also worked in intelligence in Guam . He is married to Jeanine Carrier , and they have a daughter and two sons . Intelligence career . Air Intelligence Agency . From 1996 to 1997 , Hayden served as Commander of the AIA , an agency of 16 , 000 charged with defending and exploiting the " information domain . " National Security Agency . Hayden served as the Director of the National Security Agency and Chief of the Central Security Service at Fort George G . Meade , Maryland 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 . Strategy for the NSA . Hayden came to the NSA at a time of great trouble in the agency . Internal government analysis indicated it suffered from a lack of quality management and an outdated information technology infrastructure . In fact 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 , induce a lot of old managers to retire and get rid of old management structures . Part of his plan also included increased openness at the agency ; it had historically been one of the most secretive organs of government . He notably allowed James Bamford access for his book Body of Secrets . Hayden was also initially extremely concerned with following the laws against domestic surveillance . Many reports say that after 9 / 11 , he became more concerned with stopping terrorism , and allegedly softened his stance against domestic surveillance . Hayden however has said that he believed everything the agency was doing was " effective , appropriate , and lawful " . On 9 / 11 , Hayden immediately evacuated all non - essential personnel from NSA headquarters . After 9 / 11 , the agency greatly increased its activity . Details about its operations have been largely hidden , but it played a major role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Global war on terror . One notable example is its relationship with the Unmanned aerial vehicle ' drone ' program . Wiretaps of domestic communication . In May 2006 , " USA Today " reported that , under Hayden ' s leadership , the NSA created a domestic telephone call database . During his nomination hearings , Hayden defended his actions to Senator Russ Feingold and others , stating that he had relied upon legal advice that the White House order to build the database was supported by Article Two of the United States Constitution executive branch powers ( in which the President must " take care that the laws be faithfully executed " ) , overriding legislative branch statutes forbidding warrantless surveillance of domestic calls , which included the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( FISA ) . Previously , this action would 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 . Trailblazer . Hayden also championed the Trailblazer Project , a " transformation " project with a large Information Technology component . The project was criticized by several NSA staffers for not including privacy protections for US citizens and for being a waste of money . The critics included Diane S Roark , of the House Intelligence Committee , NSA workers Thomas Andrews Drake , Binney , Wiebe , and Loomis , and others . Hayden severely rebuked these critics . Several quit in protest . After investigations by the NSA inspector general , the DOD inspector general , and Congress , Trailblazer was shut down . Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence . As part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 , the CIA chief no longer would run the intelligence community . Instead a new office was created for this purpose ; the Director of National Intelligence . General Hayden became the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence from May 2005 to May 2006 under the first DNI , John Negroponte . Civil liberties . On January 23 , 2006 , General Hayden participated in a news conference . A YouTube video was posted of Michael Hayden telling reporters at a press conference that " probable cause " is not in the 4th Amendment . Hayden was also a supporter of " enhanced interrogation techniques " . Director of the Central Intelligence Agency . On May 8 , 2006 , Hayden was nominated by President George W . Bush to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency after the resignation of Porter J . Goss on May 5 , 2006 . He was later confirmed on May 26 , 2006 as Director , 78 - 15 , by full U . S . Senate vote . Critics of the nomination and Hayden ' s attempts to increase domestic surveillance included Senator Dianne 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 " . Hayden is not the first active member of the military to be appointed to run the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) . Those previously holding the position of Director of Central Intelligence while simultaneously holding a military rank were : In 2007 , Hayden lobbied to allow the CIA to conduct drone strikes purely on the behavior of ground vehicles , with no further evidence of connection to terrorism . Military career . Honors . His native Northside neighborhood of Pittsburgh renamed a major highway leading to Heinz Field in his honor . On 26 July 2011 , Hayden was inducted into the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Alumni in a ceremony at Maxwell AFB , Alabama , officiated by Lt . Gen . Allen G . Peck , Commander , Air University .