Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker of the U.S. House, died Oct. 3 at age 84. Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell said he died of natural causes at home while receiving hospice care, The Associated Press reported.
Dennis Hastert’s rise to House speaker
The Illinois Republican served as speaker from 1999 to 2007. Before entering Congress in 1987, he had been a teacher, wrestling coach and state legislator, according to Roll Call’s obituary.
His tenure included the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and years of narrow Republican control. His name became associated with an informal practice of bringing legislation to the floor only when most members of the majority party supported it. That practice became known as the Hastert rule.
A banking conviction exposed abuse
Hastert pleaded guilty in 2015 to arranging cash withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements. Judge Thomas Durkin sentenced him to 15 months in federal prison in April 2016, according to the Justice Department’s sentencing announcement.
The investigation revealed payments to a man who said Hastert had abused him as a teenager. Prosecutors identified at least four boys they said he had abused while working as a high school coach. Roll Call reported that Hastert acknowledged abuse during sentencing. The time limits for prosecuting those acts had expired; his conviction was for the financial offense.
The case overshadowed a career that had put him among the country’s most influential lawmakers. For additional historical profiles, see our coverage of America’s founding figures and the Roosevelt family.
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