Congressional Exit Interview with Congressman Henry Hyde Reflects On His Tenure in Congress

NYU’s Brademas Center Initiative Recorded One of the Last Interviews with Hyde Before His Death

New York University’s John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress has re-released the “The Reflections Project: Departing Members of Congress Assess the Institution” interview it conducted with Representative Henry Hyde, (R-IL), shortly before his death in November 2007.

Born in 1924, Hyde served in the House from 1975 to 2006 and retired at end of the last session. Hyde served as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001.

As one of the last interviews with Hyde before his passing, Hyde reflects on his over 30 years spent in Congress and the issues and challenges he faced, including the Republican Revolution, humanitarian aid, the Impeachment Trial of President Clinton, international relations, and his feelings on bipartisanship and Congress as an institution. The transcript and video of the interview between Representative Hyde and Linda Douglass can be found at http://www.nyu.edu/brademas/resources/research.html.

The Reflections Project: Departing Members of Congress Assess the Institution

In April 2006, The Brademas Center announced an initiative, “The Reflections Project: Departing Members of Congress Assess the Institution, ” the purpose of which is to establish a public record of the first-person accounts, opinions, anecdotes and reflections of Members who retire from office each term.

Beginning the summer of 2006, The Brademas Center has conducted eight interviews, led by Linda Douglass, a Senior Fellow of the Center and former chief Capitol Hill correspondent for ABC News. These include Representative Henry Hyde (R-IL), retiring chair of the House International Relations committee; Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX), former House Majority Leader; Representative Bill Thomas (R-CA), retiring chair of the House Ways and Means Committee; Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), retiring chair of the House Science Committee; former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD); Representative Major Owens (D-NY); Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and Representative Martin Sabo (D-MN).

For the full videos of each of these interviews, please follow this link: http://www.nyu.edu/brademas/resources/video.archive.html

The John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University seeks to advance the understanding of Congress-its powers, processes and political character-among scholars, students pursuing careers in public service, those working on Capitol Hill and the public. The Center achieves its mission through nonpartisan research, teaching and public outreach events-such as symposia and conferences-focused on the role of Congress in making national policy. Our programming aims to explore issues and problems of the legislative branch from new perspectives. The Center is named for founder John Brademas, NYU President Emeritus and former Member of Congress. www.nyu.edu/brademas