No. 105 in America · Week of November 9, 2026
Retired general, former NSA and CIA director
Michael Hayden is a retired Air Force general who led the NSA and the CIA.
Photo: CIA, Public domain
Score breakdown
Nine parts, measured fresh each week. This is where Michael Hayden's points came from, and the evidence behind each one.
Debate record
Won the 2014 Munk Debate arguing that state surveillance defends our freedoms.
Hayden directed the NSA from 1999 to 2005 and the CIA from 2006 to 2009.
He teaches at George Mason University's Schar School.
On the record
2014
May 2, 2014
Formal debateWon the audience vote
Against Glenn Greenwald and Alexis Ohanian · Munk Debates, Toronto
Michael Hayden argued for the motion with Alan Dershowitz. The pro side won the audience vote, swinging 9 percent.
The people on this list argue in public for a living. At SuperDebate you get the same stage: one question, a clear structure, and a room that votes. It is how you learn to win an argument without making enemies.
