Henry Hyde

Henry John Hyde (April 18, 1924 – November 29, 2007) was an American politician who served as 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. He was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001, and the House International Relations Committee from 2001 to 2007. Hyde is most famous for being a vocal opponent of abortion; to this end, he was the primary sponsor of the Hyde Amendment, which largely bars the payment of abortions with federal funds.

Hyde was born in Chicago, the son of Monica (Kelly) and Henry Clay Hyde. His father was English and his mother was Irish Catholic. His family supported the Democratic Party. Hyde graduated from St. George High School in 1942. He attended Duke University, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity, graduated from Georgetown University and obtained his J.D. degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Hyde played basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas where he helped take the team to the 1943 championship game. He served in the Navy during World War II. He remained in the Naval Reserve from 1946 to 1968, as an officer in charge of the U.S. Naval Intelligence Reserve Unit in Chicago. He retired at the rank of Commander. In 1955, Hyde joined the Knights of Columbus, and was a member of Father McDonald Council 1911 in Elmhurst, Illinois.

He was married to Jeanne Simpson Hyde from 1947 until her death in 1992; he had four children and four grandchildren.

Hyde's political views began drifting rightward after his collegiate years. By 1952, he had become a Republican and supported Dwight Eisenhower for president. He made his first run for Congress in 1962, losing to Democratic incumbent Roman Pucinski in the 11th District.

Hyde was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1967 and served as Majority Leader from 1971 to 1972. He served in the Illinois House until 1974, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November, 1974 as one of the few bright spots in what was a disastrous year for Republicans in the wake of the Watergate scandal. He faced a bruising contest against former Cook County state's attorney Edward Hanrahan, but was elected by 8,000 votes.

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. 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.

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." Hyde played a key role in the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 1981.

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 reform of the institution's management.