Disgraced ex-GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert dies at 84

John Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), the former House Speaker who later went to prison for charges related to allegations of sexual abuse against underaged boys, died over the weekend at his home “due to natural causes,” according to Illinois’ Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell.

Hastert, who died at 84, served as the speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007, until Democrats won back the House and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) succeeded him. He announced that he would not seek reelection in 2008, ending his tenure in Congress.

During his Speakership, Hastert helped to enact some of the most consequential legislation of the last half-century, including two rounds of massive tax cuts that were the signature domestic achievement of President George W. Bush. Hastert was also in power during the 9/11 attacks and oversaw the launch of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Bush had said then that he was “indebted to Denny for his candid advice and strong support.”

But his legacy was quickly overshadowed by the revelations that he had paid hush money to a man alleging that Hastert had sexually abused him when Hastert was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois decades earlier. The payments led federal prosecutors to open a broader investigation into allegations that Hastert had abused at least four boys at the school.

The judge in the case characterized Hastert as a “serial child molester,” but the statute of limitations surrounding the abuse allegations had long expired by the time of the investigation.

In 2015, he pleaded guilty to financial crimes related to the scandal, thereby avoiding a long and potentially embarrassing trial. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2016, and spent 13 months behind bars.

Amid the revelations, former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) removed Hastert’s portrait from the Speaker’s lobby of the U.S. Capitol, a hallowed hallway just off the House floor where the pictures of dozens of past Speakers are displayed.

Hastert was born and raised in rural Illinois, where he was a standout athlete before becoming a high school teacher and coach while in his early twenties. In 1976, after leading the school’s wrestling team to a state championship, he was named the state’s coach of the year.

He left teaching five years later, after winning a seat in the Illinois House, where he served for three terms before being elected to the U.S. House in 1986.

His rise to the Speakership was a surprise, coming only after a series of stunning events shook Washington in the late 1990s.

The first of those was the 1998 elections, a mid-term cycle when Republicans were expecting big gains amid the Monica Lewinsky scandal that dogged then-President Bill Clinton. Instead, Democrats gained seats, forcing the GOP’s powerhouse Speaker, Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), to step out of power.

Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.), was elected to succeed Gingrich, but Livingston never took the gavel after revelations of an extramarital affair, clearing the way for Hastert.

From that perch, Hastert helped Bush push through major parts of his ambitious agenda, including the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.

He also adopted an informal policy that no legislation would be considered by the chamber unless it had the support of more than half of all the Republicans. Known as the “Hastert rule,” the policy remains a powerful influence in the House to this day.