Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the Illinois Republican who became the longest-serving GOP speaker in U.S. history before later serving time in federal prison, has died at 84.
Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell confirmed Monday that Hastert died at home over the weekend.
His death was attributed to natural causes.
No additional details were immediately released.
Hastert represented Illinois in Congress from 1987 until 2007.
He rose to become speaker of the House after Newt Gingrich stepped down in 1998.
Rep. Bob Livingston had initially emerged as Gingrich’s expected successor but withdrew after revelations involving extramarital affairs.
That opened the door for Hastert, who was sometimes described as an “accidental speaker.”
He would go on to serve longer in the position than any other Republican.
Hastert had steadily climbed the GOP leadership ranks before becoming speaker.
An ally of former House Republican leader Robert H. Michel, he later became chief deputy whip in 1995.
He was a vocal critic of the Clinton administration and later worked closely with President George W. Bush.
Hastert helped move much of Bush’s domestic and legislative agenda through the House during the Republican president’s years in office.
His leadership style also became associated with what came to be known as the “Hastert rule.”
Under that informal practice, Republican leaders generally avoid bringing legislation to the House floor unless a majority of Republican members support it, per Trending Politics.
The approach continued influencing House Republican strategy long after Hastert left office.
His political career ended after Republicans lost control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections.
Hastert stepped down from leadership and resigned from Congress in 2007.
He later worked as a lobbyist and consultant.
Years after leaving public office, however, Hastert’s legacy was dramatically reshaped by a federal criminal investigation.
Federal authorities began examining his bank transactions in 2013.
Two years later, he was indicted on charges of structuring cash withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements and making false statements to the FBI.
Hastert pleaded guilty in 2015 to the banking offense.
The withdrawals were connected to hush money payments to a man Hastert had sexually abused while working as a high school wrestling coach.
At his 2016 sentencing, Hastert admitted that he had abused boys during his years as a coach.
U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin described Hastert as a “serial child molester.”
The judge sentenced him to 15 months in federal prison.
Hastert was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and participate in a sex offender treatment program.
He was not criminally charged for the sexual abuse itself because the relevant statutes of limitations had expired.
Hastert ultimately served 13 months in federal prison before being released in 2017.
His imprisonment made him the highest-ranking elected U.S. official to serve a federal prison sentence.
Long before his time in Washington, Hastert worked as a teacher and wrestling coach in Illinois.
He spent 16 years in education and was named Illinois Coach of the Year in 1976.
He later entered politics through the Illinois state legislature.
Hastert won election to Illinois’ 14th Congressional District in 1986 and began serving in the House the following year.
He was born in Aurora, Illinois, in 1942 and grew up in a farming community.
Hastert earned an economics degree from Wheaton College and continued his education at Northern Illinois University.
He married Jean Kahl in 1973.
The couple had two sons.
Hastert’s death closes the chapter on one of the most complicated legacies in modern congressional history: a politician who rose to one of the highest offices in the federal government, only to have his public reputation later overshadowed by admissions of sexual abuse and a federal prison sentence.
