Political positions and legislation

Hyde was one of the most vocal and persistent opponents of abortion in American politics and was the chief sponsor of the eponymous Hyde Amendment to the House Appropriations bill that prohibited the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions through Medicaid. In 1981, however, he and U.S. Senator Jake Garn of Utah, another abortion opponent, broke with the National Pro-Life Political Action Committee, when its executive director, Peter Gemma, issued a "hit list" to target members of both houses of Congress who supported abortion rights. Hyde said such lists are counterproductive because they create irrevocable discord among legislators, any of whom can be subject to a "single issue" attack of this kind. Gemma said he was surprised by the withdrawal of Garn and Hyde from the PAC committee but continued with plans to spend $650,000 for the 1982 elections on behalf of anti-abortion candidates.^[6] In 1993 the 1976 Hyde Amendment law was amended to allow payments for abortions in case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.^[7]

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 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,^[8] a bill that ties payment of U.S. dues for United Nations operations to reform of the institution's management.

House committees

Hyde was a member of the House Judiciary Committee for his entire tenure in the House. He was its Chairman from 1995 until 2001, during which time he served as the lead manager during the President Clinton impeachment trial.

From 1985 until 1991, Hyde was the ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence.^[9] 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.

Savings and Loan scandal

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.^[10]

Iran–Contra investigation

Hyde with President Ronald Reagan in August 1983

As a member of the congressional panel investigating the Iran-Contra affair, Hyde vigorously defended the Ronald Reagan administration, and a number of the participants who had been accused of various crimes, particularly Oliver North.^[11] Quoting Thomas Jefferson, Hyde argued that although various individuals had lied in testimony before Congress, their actions were excusable because they were in support of the goal of fighting communism.^[12]

Clinton impeachment

Hyde at a hearing on special counsel Ken Starr's investigation of President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, November 1998.

Hyde reads the articles of impeachment to the Senate on January 7, 1999

Hyde argued that the House had a constitutional and civic duty to impeach Bill Clinton for perjury. In the Resolution on Impeachment of the President, Hyde wrote:^[13]

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.

Clinton was impeached by the House on two charges: perjury and obstruction of justice. Hyde served as chief House manager (prosecutor) at the President's trial in the Senate; he became known for his remarks in his closing argument:

A failure to convict will make the statement that lying under oath, while unpleasant and to be avoided, is not all that serious ... We have reduced lying under oath to a breach of etiquette, but only if you are the President ... And now let us all take our place in history on the side of honor, and, oh, yes, let right be done.

Despite Hyde's efforts, President Clinton was acquitted of both perjury and obstruction of justice. With a two-thirds majority required for conviction, only 45 senators voted for conviction on the perjury charge and only 50 on the obstruction of justice charge.^[14]

Extramarital affair

While Hyde was spearheading the impeachment of President Bill Clinton amid the revelations of the Clinton–Lewinsky affair, it was revealed that Hyde himself had conducted an extramarital sexual affair with Cherie Snodgrass, who was also married. Hyde admitted to the affair and attributed the relationship as a "youthful indiscretion". He was 41 years old and married when the affair occurred. Hyde said the affair ended when Snodgrass' husband confronted Mrs. Hyde. At the time, Snodgrass was also married and had three children.^[15]

The Snodgrasses divorced in 1967. The Hydes reconciled and remained married until Mrs. Hyde's death in 1992.^[16]

9/11 and the Iraq War

Hyde and other members of Congress meet with President George W. Bush to discuss his trip to the Genoa G-8 Summit in July 2001

Hyde with Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss foreign relations, November 2003

As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Hyde was involved in some of the highest level debates concerning the response to the September 11 attacks in 2001. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hyde 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."^[17] 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."^[18]

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.^[19]

Order of St. Gregory

Hyde was named a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, in recognition of his longtime support for political issues important to the Roman Catholic Church.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Hyde received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, on November 5, 2007, awarded by President Bush.^[22] Hyde was hospitalized, recovering from open-heart surgery, and could not attend the ceremony in person.