Henry Hyde: A True Statesman and a Constitutional
Steward
By Frank Salvato
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all
enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the
same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or
purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” – Congressional Oath of Office
One of the greatest responsibilities bestowed
upon elected officials is that of constitutional stewardship. While each elected
official has a duty to represent his constituents in a faithful manner, each
swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution. We, the citizens of this
Republic, through democratic elections, entrust this responsibility to those we
elect and expect them to abide by the tenets mandated by the Constitution and to
honor their oath to preserve it for future generations. Few have executed that
oath more fully than Congressman Henry J. Hyde of Illinois.
Politics in the United States circa 2000 has
evolved into what can be legitimately described as a cauldron of special
interest narcissism. More often than not, those elected to office are more
committed to their political parties and personal political well-being than they
are to faithfully representing their constituencies. Because of this
manipulation, the massaging of the truth – political spinning – has become
acceptable; it has become status quo. While every elected official
condemns the manipulation of truth in the political arena very few actually
disassociate themselves from the practice. Where, it is said, there is honor
among thieves, it would seem that there is little, if any, among America’s
political class.
It was for his refusal to compromise neither
his oath of office nor the trust of his constituents that Henry Hyde stood out
amongst his counterparts in Congress. I can say this because Mr. Hyde served as
my congressman for many years and I am proud to have voted for him.
Professionally, his door was always open to his
constituents, his attention toward their concerns genuine in nature. Where most
politicians view their constituents as entities to “handle,” Mr. Hyde served his
constituents as a realist, helping when he could and explaining the intricacies
of tough situations and providing guidance and assistance when he couldn’t
effect the desired outcome regarding their concerns.
In his private life, Mr. Hyde was a genuine
human being, who, personal feelings aside, masterfully advocated the will of his
constituents. By deed and word he promoted a more civilized political
environment, one devoid of smear, innuendo and personal attacks; an atmosphere
where your personal life remained out-of-bounds unless your personal
actions came to interfere with your professional life.
Like any of us, Mr. Hyde, while understanding
that the “political game” is a vicious one, was affected by many of his
detractors’ personal attacks. I can say these things because aside from Mr. Hyde
being my congressman for many years, my family was privileged to be able to call
him friend.
I remember being at one of his last official
functions as a congressman, a “thank you” event of sorts for his workers,
constituents and supporters. He told a story about being on vacation around the
time of the Clinton impeachment proceedings. He spoke of relaxing in a public
setting, reading, when a woman walked up to him and asked, politely, if he was
Henry Hyde. The congressman looked up from his reading and answered that yes, in
fact he was one in the same. The woman’s face turned from pleasant to maniacal
with contempt and she said, “I hate you for what you are doing to Bill
Clinton.”
I don’t think I will ever forget the sadness I
heard in Mr. Hyde’s voice at that moment. “I hate you for what you are doing to
Bill Clinton.”
It was at that very second that I realized
intellectual discourse in American politics was truly endangered, if not dead,
that perception trumped facts in the political arena and that truth had become
an inconsequential component of life for those elected to public office.
Regarding the impeachment, Henry Hyde was known
to have stressed that the proceedings were centered on the rule of law and the
fact that the president had perjured himself under oath, violating not only the
law but his constitutional requirement to uphold the law as well. It wasn’t, he
declared, about “gotcha politics” or sexual escapades, a notion that Mr. Hyde’s
detractors, political smear-merchants and the agenda-driven media tried to play
up.
Throughout the impeachment proceedings Mr. Hyde
upheld the rule of law, faithfully discharged the duties of his office and
honored his responsibility to the United States Constitution. His thanks for a
thankless job came in the form of an emotionally charged Clinton sycophant
declaring, “I hate you for what you are doing to Bill Clinton,” when the facts
bear that Clinton, literally, did it to himself.
Through it all – and throughout his tenure in
the US House of Representatives – Mr. Hyde was held in high regard by his fellow
Congressmen, both Republican and Democrat alike. He was recognized as an
intellectual leader and one who held the responsibility of constitutional
stewardship as the greatest responsibility bestowed upon a federally elected
official. So too, he understood it as an honor to be elected to do so.
On November 5, 2007, Congressman Henry J. Hyde was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the highest honor a president can bestow upon an American citizen.
On November 29, 2007 this American patriot passed away.
The United States and we, her citizens, have
lost not only a statesman and a political intellectual, but someone who put love
of country and the well-being of our Constitution ahead of political
self-interest and party loyalty. We have lost an American champion and patriot
and we are less for it. Personally, my family has lost a friend and I am very
sad for that fact.
Related
Reading/Viewing:
Congressional
Oath of Office
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode05/usc_sec_05_00003331----000-.html
Former Illinois
Congressman Henry Hyde’s Last Public Appearance
http://www.chicagotribune.com/video/?clipid=1899472&topVideoCatNo=117978&c
Henry J. Hyde,
Biographical Directory of the US Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H001022
