Dennis Hastert, former US House Speaker, dies at 84

Dennis Hastert, the former US House Speaker whose eight years wielding power in Washington were later overshadowed by a federal prison term for a hush-money scheme tied to historical child sexual abuse, has died at the age of 84.

Hastert died over the weekend at his home from natural causes, Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell confirmed in a statement released on Monday.

Between 1999 and 2007, Hastert served as the 51st Speaker of the House of Representatives, making him the longest-serving Republican to hold the gavel. A former high school teacher and wrestling coach from suburban Chicago, he represented Illinois' 14th Congressional District for two decades, from 1987 until his retirement from Congress in 2007.

Rise to the speaker's chair

Hastert ascended to the speakership unexpectedly in early 1999, emerging as an unflashy, compromise candidate to steady House Republicans following the sudden resignation of Newt Gingrich and the abrupt withdrawal of incoming speaker Bob Livingston.

For nearly a decade, Hastert maintained tight party discipline in the House, helping pass President George W. Bush's domestic tax cuts, the post-9/11 Patriot Act, and trade legislation. His governing style gave rise to the informal "Hastert Rule", an internal guideline stating that the Speaker would not bring a bill to the House floor unless it had the backing of a "majority of the majority" party.

He stepped down from leadership after Democrats took back the House majority in the 2006 midterm elections, leaving Congress entirely the following year.

Criminal conviction and prison

Hastert's political legacy unravelled completely in 2015 when federal prosecutors indicted him over financial transactions designed to evade bank reporting rules. Investigators revealed that the cash withdrawals were part of millions of dollars in hush money he had agreed to pay a former student to conceal past sexual misconduct.

In 2016, Hastert admitted in federal court that he had sexually abused teenage boys decades earlier while coaching wrestling and teaching at Yorkville High School in Illinois.

During sentencing, a federal judge labelled Hastert a "serial child molester", handed down a 15-month prison sentence, and ordered him to pay a $250,000 fine. Hastert served the custodial sentence, becoming the highest-ranking elected official in US history to serve time in federal prison.