Henry Hyde

For other people named Henry Hyde, see Henry Hyde (disambiguation).

Henry J. Hyde
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 6th district
In office January 3, 1975–January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Harold R. Collier
Succeeded by	Peter Roskam
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jeanne Simpson Hyde (deceased; 4 children) Judy Wolverton (widowed; no children)
Alma mater	Georgetown University, Loyola University Chicago
Occupation	attorney, political assistant

Henry John Hyde (April 18, 1924 – November 29, 2007), an American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's northwestern suburbs which included O'Hare International Airport. He chaired the Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001, and the House International Relations Committee from 2001 to 2007.

Early life

Hyde was born in Chicago, attended Duke University where he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity, graduated from Georgetown University and obtained his law degree from Loyola University. Hyde played basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas where he helped take the team to the 1943 Final Four. He served in the Navy during World War II where he served in combat in the Philippines. He served in the Naval Reserve from 1946 to 1968, where he retired at the rank of Commander, after serving as officer in charge of the U.S. Naval Intelligence Reserve Unit in Chicago. He was married to Jeanne Simpson Hyde from 1947 until her death in 1992; he had four children and four grandchildren. Hyde was of English paternal ancestry and Irish maternal ancestry.[1]

Political career

Hyde grew up as a Democrat in an Irish Catholic family, but by 1952 had switched party affiliation and supported Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Henry Hyde began his political career as a press aide for Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. In his book, The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time, Hunter S. Thompson wrote:

One of the handlers, Henry Hyde, presumably felt that I was a threat to the Nixon camp. He called Pageant [magazine] to check me out. This was after he got into my room somehow -- while I was away, eating breakfast -- and read my typewritten notes.

The Nixon people, who wore baggy, dark-colored suits and plenty of greasy kid stuff (they looked like models at an Elks Club style show), seemed to feel I was disrespectful because I was dressed like a ski bum.

Pageant reassured Mr. Hyde as to the purity of my mission and intentions in spite of my appearance.

Hyde's 40 consecutive years as an elected official began in 1967 with his accession to a seat in the State of Illinois House of Representatives. He was that body's majority leader in 1971-1972.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974.

As a member of the congressional Iran-contra committee, Hyde vigorously defended Reagan’s Iran-contra activities and steered the panel away from any serious investigation of the contra-cocaine connection. The suppression of that contra-cocaine probe, in particular, proved crucial in shielding Reagan and his vice president, George Bush, from blame for a policy that fueled America's cocaine pandemic and wreaked havoc on cities across the nation. The contra-cocaine issue had surfaced publicly in 1985 and had become the subject of a Senate inquiry in 1986. Even earlier, the CIA and the Drug Enforcement Administration were aware of the contra-cocaine problem.

A member of the House Judiciary Committee from his freshman term, Hyde served as its chairman from 1995 until 2001, during which time he served as the lead House "manager" during the President Clinton impeachment trial. Hyde maintained that the House had a constitutional and civic duty to impeach Clinton for perjury.

Hyde asserted that elected officials needed to be held to a higher standard and that the highest elected official, the President, should be held to the highest standard. The following statement by Henry Hyde, on the Resolution On Impeachment of the President illustrates this quite well.

What we are telling you today are not the ravings of some vast right- wing conspiracy, but a reaffirmation of a set of values that are tarnished and dim these days, but it is given to us to restore them so our Founding Fathers would be proud. It's your country - the President is our flag bearer, out in front of our people. The flag is falling my friends - I ask you to catch the falling flag as we keep our appointment with history.

From 1985 until 1991, Hyde was the ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence. He was also one of the most vocal and persistent opponents of abortion law liberalization in American politics, and was involved in some of the highest level debates concerning the response to the events of September 11, 2001.

Hyde and the Committee's senior Democrat, U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), authored America's worldwide response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in 2003 and landmark foreign assistance legislation creating the Millennium Challenge Corporation and expanding U.S. funding for successful microenterprise initiatives. During his long career, he was also involved in debates over U.S.-Soviet relations, Central America policy, the War Powers Act, NATO expansion and the investigation of the Iran-Contra affair, and sponsored the United Nations Reform Act of 2005, a bill that ties payment of U.S. dues for United Nations operations to efforts mandating reform of the institution's management. An original sponsor of the Brady Bill requiring background checks for gun buyers, Hyde broke with his party in 1994 when he supported a ban on the sale of semi-automatic firearms. An original sponsor of family leave legislation, Hyde said the law promoted "capitalism with a human face." He introduced the Hyde Amendment in 1997.

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hyde, then serving as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, cautioned against attacking Iraq in the absence of clear evidence of Iraqi complicity, telling CNN's Robert Novak that it "would be a big mistake." One year later, however, he voted in support of the October 10, 2002 House resolution that authorized the president to go to war with Iraq. In response to Rep. Ron Paul's resolution requesting a formal declaration of war, Hyde stated: "There are things in the Constitution that have been overtaken by events, by time. Declaration of war is one of them. ... Inappropriate, anachronistic, it isn't done anymore."

In 2006, Hyde made the following observation in regard to the Bush Administration's proclaimed objective of promoting democracy in the Middle East:

Lashing our interests to the indiscriminate promotion of democracy is a tempting but unwarranted strategy, more a leap of faith than a sober calculation. There are other negative consequences as well. A broad and energetic promotion of democracy in other countries that will not enjoy our long-term and guiding presence may equate not to peace and stability but to revolution.

Savings and Loan scandal

Main article: Savings and Loan crisis

In 1981, after leaving the House Banking Committee, Hyde went on the board of directors of Clyde Federal Savings and Loan, whose chairman was one of Hyde's political contributors. According to Salon.com, from 1982 until he left the board in 1984, Hyde used his position on the board of directors to promote the savings and loan's investment in risky financial options. In 1990, the federal government put Clyde in receivership, and paid $67 million to cover insured deposits. In 1993, the Resolution Trust Corporation sued Hyde and other directors for $17.2 million. Four years later, before pretrial investigation and depositions, the government settled with the defendants for $850,000 and made an arrangement exempting Hyde from paying anything. According to Salon.com, Hyde was the only member of the congress sued for "gross negligence" in an S&L failure.

Extramarital affair

In 1998, the Internet magazine Salon.com published "This Hypocrite Broke Up My Family" which stated that from 1965 to 1969, Hyde conducted an extramarital sexual affair with Cherie Snodgrass. At the time, Snodgrass was married to another man with whom she had had three children. The Snodgrasses divorced in 1967. Hyde said the affair ended when Snodgrass' husband confronted Mrs. Hyde. The Hydes reconciled and remained married until Mrs. Hyde's death in 1992. Hyde, who was 41 years old and married when the affair occurred, admitted to the affair in 1998, describing the relationship as a "youthful indiscretion". The revelation of this affair took place as Hyde was spearheading the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Retirement

Over the years, the demographics of Hyde's DuPage County shifted, leading his 2004 Democratic challenger Christine Cegelis to garner over 44% of the vote, the highest total of any of Hyde's opponents. On April 18, 2005 (his 81st birthday), Hyde announced on his Web site that he would retire at the expiration of his term (in January 2007) A few days earlier, it had been reported that Illinois Republicans were expecting this announcement, and it was further reported that Illinois State Senator Peter Roskam had emerged as a leading contender for the Republican Party's nominee to succeed Hyde. In August 2005, Hyde endorsed Roskam as his successor.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Henry Hyde received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, on November 5 2007. The press release stated: "A veteran, a lawyer, and a public servant, Henry Hyde has served his country with honor and dedication. During his 32-year career in the House of Representatives, he was a powerful defender of life, a leading advocate for a strong national defense, and an unwavering voice for liberty, democracy, and free enterprise around the world. A true gentleman of the House, he advanced his principles without rancor and earned the respect of friends and adversaries alike. The United States honors Henry Hyde for his distinguished record of service to America." Hyde was hospitalized recovering from open-heart surgery and could not attend the ceremony in person.

Death

Hyde died on November 29 2007 at 3 a.m. CST at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago after suffering complications following an open heart surgery operation at that hospital, months earlier. Hyde is survived by his second wife Judy Wolverton, whom he married a year before he died, and by his four children from his first marriage to Jeanne Simpson Hyde which lasted from 1947 until her death in 1992.

See also

• Hyde Amendment
• Hyde Amendment (1997)

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• USC Center on Public Diplomacy Profile
• "This hypocrite broke up my family", David Talbot, Salon.com, 1998
• Letter to the FDIC concerning Hyde and the failed Clyde Federal Savings and Loan

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