Former Rep. Henry Hyde, abortion foe, dies at 83

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, an ardent opponent of abortion who presided over the House of Representatives impeachment of President Bill Clinton, died on Thursday after heart bypass surgery earlier this year, Republican leaders said.

"Henry was a student of American history, a constitutional scholar, a thoughtful legislator and a passionate orator," said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, who also praised Hyde's work against legalized abortion.

The 83-year-old politician, who ended his long House career when he chose not to run for re-election in 2006, was mostly known for his anti-abortion views and white shock of hair.

That was until Hyde, a Republican from Chicago's western suburbs, as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee led the bitter, partisan proceedings in 1998 to impeach Clinton for lying under oath about a sexual affair with a White House intern.

Hyde promised to conduct the proceedings in a even-handed manner but the hearings quickly turned fractious and partisan. Hyde's reputation was tarnished when on-line magazine Salon reported he had had an extra-marital affair with a married woman 30 years earlier, which Hyde referred to as "youthful indiscretions."

The House voted on party lines for two of the four articles of impeachment against Clinton. But after Hyde's historic march with the 12 other House managers into the Senate trial presided over by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the Senate rejected both articles.

Forced to relinquish the Judiciary Committee chairmanship because of Republican-imposed term limits, Hyde ended his House career as chairman of the International Relations Committee.

On November 5, Hyde was awarded the President Medal of Freedom but was unable to attend the White House ceremony. President George W. Bush described Hyde as a "towering figure in Washington" who "walked with kings and kept the common touch."

Hyde, raised a Democrat and a Catholic, switched parties in 1952 to back Dwight Eisenhower for president, saying he felt Republicans better represented his anti-Communist views.