Ex-Rep. Henry J. Hyde, 83, ardent opponent of abortion

WASHINGTON - Former Rep. Henry J. Hyde, 83, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton and was a hero of the antiabortion movement, died yesterday at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

He underwent open-heart surgery in July, and was admitted for persistent renal failure related to his cardiac condition and suffered from a fatal arrhythmia, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Mr. Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session. Earlier this month, President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"During more than 30 years as a congressman, he represented the people of Illinois with character and dignity, and always stood for a strong and purposeful America," Bush said yesterday.

The physically imposing Mr. Hyde was a throwback to a different era, a man who was genuinely liked by his opponents for his wit, charm and fairness. But he could also infuriate them with his positions on the controversial issues of the day.

He made a name for himself in 1976, just two years after his first election, by attaching an amendment to a spending bill banning the use of federal funds to carry out abortions. What came to be known as the "Hyde Amendment" has since become a fixture in the annual debate over federal spending, and has served as an important marker for abortion foes seeking to discourage women from terminating pregnancies.

Abortion was an issue that the Irish Catholic lawmaker pursued as a matter of conscience. Clinton's impeachment, by contrast, was a matter thrust upon him.

As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in 1998, he led House efforts to impeach Clinton for lying about an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and then in 1999 was the chief House manager in the unsuccessful bid to win a Senate conviction.

Mr. Hyde saw his own reputation tarnished during the process when an online magazine revealed he had had an affair with a married woman 30 years before. Mr. Hyde, in his 40s at the time of the affair, brushed it off as a "youthful indiscretion."

Mr. Hyde was born in Chicago on April 18, 1924. After serving two years in the Navy, he graduated from Georgetown University in 1947 and earned a law degree at Loyola University in 1949.

Raised a Democrat, he switched parties to vote for Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. He worked as a Chicago trial lawyer before winning a seat in the Illinois House in 1966 and the U.S. House in 1974. Mr. Hyde gained elder-statesman status when young conservatives propelled the GOP into control of the House in 1994.

But on occasion he parted ways with his conservative colleagues: He strongly opposed a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of Congress, and supported the Family and Medical Leave Act.

He is survived by four children and four grandchildren. His wife of 45 years, Jeanne Simpson Hyde, died in 1992. He recently married Judy Wolverton of Illinois, state Republican officials said.