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Chicago, IL — Former Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde, the man behind kick-starting impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and the push for government restrictions on the funding of abortions, has died. He was 83.

Hyde's death was announced House Minority Leader John Boehner's office on Capitol Hill early this morning, according to the Associated Press. The Illinois Republican died at 3 a.m. at Rush University Medical Center, according to that hospital's spokesperson.

Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session. Bush's White House presented Hyde with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, praising the outspoken abortion foe as a "powerful defender of life."

Raised a Democrat, Hyde switched parties to vote for Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. His work as a Chicago trial lawyer before winning a seat in the Illinois House in 1966 and then in the U.S. House in 1974 prepared him for the Clinton impeachment trials, a matter thrust upon him.

As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Hyde lead the 1998 House efforts to have Clinton removed from office. Hyde suffered a blow to his own reputation when, during the proceedings, it was revealed he'd had an affair with a married woman nearly 30 years prior.

His pro life stance, by contrast, was a matter of passion for the staunch Republican. His "Hyde Amendment", as it came to be called, became a fixture in the annual debate over federal spending on abortions.

Many political analysts have commented that Hyde's passing marks a changing of the guard—he was one of the last remaining members of the staunchly conservative, or "old school", Republican Party. 

Written By Ross von Metzke
Article provided in partnership with GayWebMonkey.com.