Lawrence W. Hogan, 73; GOP congressman from Maryland called for Nixon’s impeachment

Lawrence J. Hogan Sr., a combative Maryland political figure who rose to national prominence in 1974 by being the first Republican member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to call for President Richard M. Nixon's impeachment, died April 20 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. He was 88.

His son, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Jr. ( R), announced the death. A spokesman for the governor said the elder Hogan died of complications from a stroke.

A onetime FBI agent, Hogan projected an image as a scrappy politician and conservative stalwart as a threeterm congressman in the 1960s and 1970s, and later as Prince George's County Executive.

Nevertheless, he possessed an independent streak, most visibly when he put his political future at risk by turning against a president from his own party during the Watergate scandal.

After being an early volunteer for his fellow Massachusetts native, Democratic presidential hopeful John F. Kennedy, Hogan switched parties during the 1960 campaign and threw his support to Republican Richard M. Nixon.

Hogan first sought office in 1966, losing a bid for Congress. Two years later, when Nixon won the presidency, Hogan was elected to the House of Representatives. At the time, Prince George's County was changing from a rural, largely white and working-class suburb to an urbanized community with a growing black population.

Hogan campaigned as an old-guard champion of conservative causes, gaining crossover support from conservative Democrats for, among other things, his opposition to forced busing to desegregate the county's schools. He sought to enlist the White House and Justice Department in an attempt to block a federal court order mandating desegregation in Prince George's. He was easily reelected in 1970 and 1972, winning more than 60 percent of the vote each time.

On July 23, 1974, one day before the House Judiciary Committee was to begin debate on whether to impeach Nixon over his actions during the Watergate scandal, Hogan took his most notable public stand.