Dennis Hastert, former US House Speaker from Illinois, dies
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has died at age 84. His legacy is defined by his long political career followed by a criminal conviction for sexual abuse of students he coached in the 1960s and 1970s.
Why it matters
The death of a high-ranking political figure who fell from grace due to criminal misconduct highlights the intersection of political power and personal accountability.
J. Dennis Hastert rose from a rural high school wrestling coach to the heights of power as the longest-serving Republican speaker of the U.S. House before an ignominious fall and imprisonment amid revelations he sexually abused youths he had coached.
Once the third-most-powerful elected official in the country, serving as speaker from 1999 until 2007, Hastert died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Plano while under hospice care, Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell said. He was 84.
His death came a decade after he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for illegally structuring $950,000 in bank withdrawals to evade federal reporting requirements. The money was for hush payments to one of his victims, identified in court only as Individual A.
Also covering this story
3 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in