Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert dies at 84

Left · 2Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert died at his home in Illinois over the weekend at the age of 84, the Kendall County Coroner's Office announced on Monday 5 October 2026. 1 2 Left · 2The coroner, Jacquie Purcell, gave the cause as natural causes and said no further information was available for release. 2 1 Left · 2Born in Aurora, Illinois, in 1942, Hastert studied at Wheaton College and Northern Illinois University, then worked as a teacher and wrestling coach for years; the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association named him Coach of the Year in 1976. 1 2

Left · 2After serving in the Illinois legislature, he was elected to the US House in 1986 and served from 1987 to 2007, becoming speaker after Newt Gingrich stepped down and Bob Livingston withdrew amid a scandal; his eight years as speaker made him the longest-serving Republican speaker in history. 1 2 Left · 2As speaker he worked closely with President George W. Bush, strongly backed the Iraq War, and championed Bush's tax cuts and the 2003 Medicare prescription drug law, which he sponsored. 2 1 Left · 2He is also the namesake of the informal "Hastert Rule", under which a speaker brings legislation to the floor only if a majority of the majority party supports it; CBS notes it has been criticised for making Congress more partisan. 2 1

Left · 2He gave up the speakership and then resigned from Congress in 2007 after Republicans lost the House majority, and later worked as a lobbyist and consultant. 1 2 Left · 2In 2015 Hastert was indicted and pleaded guilty to structuring bank withdrawals to evade reporting requirements; the money was hush money paid to one of the people he had sexually abused as a teenage wrestler at Yorkville High School in the 1970s. 1 2 Left · 1He was not charged with sex offences because the statutes of limitations had expired. 1

Left · 2In 2016 US District Judge Thomas Durkin called him a "serial child molester" and sentenced him to 15 months in prison, a $250,000 fine and a sex offender programme; Hastert told the court he was "deeply ashamed" and "the only one responsible", and accuser Scott Cross described the abuse as his "darkest secret". 1 2 Left · 2He served 13 months and was released in 2017, several weeks early from a prison hospital, with two years of supervised release and a ban on being alone with children. 1 2 Left · 2Hastert was the highest-ranking elected US official to serve a prison sentence; his portrait was removed from a Capitol hallway by Speaker Paul Ryan in 2015, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame revoked his honours in 2016. 1 2

Left · 1US Attorney Zachary Farden said after sentencing that "no winners in any of this" existed and that Hastert's "legend and legacy are gone", leaving "a broken, humiliated man". 1