RismadarVoice Reporters
October 5, 2026
Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has died at the age of 84.
The Kendall County Coroner’s Office in Illinois said Hastert died at his home while receiving hospice care.
Hastert served as Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007, becoming one of the most powerful Republican politicians in Washington during the administration of former President George W. Bush.
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and represented Illinois until leaving Congress in 2007.
Before entering politics, Hastert worked as a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Illinois.
His post-political career was later overshadowed by revelations that he had sexually abused teenage boys decades earlier while working as a teacher and wrestling coach.
In 2015, Hastert pleaded guilty to illegally structuring bank withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements.
The case centred on payments prosecutors said were intended to compensate a person for and conceal past misconduct by Hastert.
During sentencing proceedings in 2016, Hastert acknowledged sexually abusing boys during his years as a teacher and coach at Yorkville High School.
Prosecutors said multiple former students had accused him of abuse dating from the 1960s through the early 1980s. The underlying sexual abuse allegations could not be prosecuted because the applicable statute of limitations had expired.
Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for the banking offence.
US District Judge Thomas Durkin sharply condemned Hastert’s conduct during sentencing, describing him as a “serial child molester.”
Hastert was released from federal custody in 2017 after serving most of his sentence.
His eight-year tenure as House Speaker ended after Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives in the 2006 midterm elections. He subsequently retired from Congress.
