The Purcell County, Illinois Coroner’s office says former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., "passed away at his home due to natural causes."The brief statement was posted on the coroner’s website early Monday morning.Hastert was 84 and one of the most ignominious figures to serve in American politics.He was the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history, wielding the gavel from 1999 to 2007.But Hastert’s career featured one of the most disgraceful falls from grace, becoming the highest-ranking U.S.
official to ever do jail time.Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert next to his seat in the Congressional Chambers shortly before President Bill Clinton delivers his State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress on January 20, 1999.(David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)MONICA LEWINSKY RECALLS 'VERY DARK MOMENTS' AFTER SCANDAL, SURVIVING JUDGMENT BY 'BILLIONS OF STRANGERS'The scandal involving Hastert emerged years after he left Congress — but dates back to the 1960s and and 1970s when he served as high school history teacher and wrestling coach in Illinois.
Hastert admitted in 2015 that he sexually abused teenage students and athletes as young as 14 — long before he entered Congress in the mid-1980s.Hastert was an accidental Speaker.He served as Chief Deputy Whip in the Republican hierarchy in late 1998 when House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., decided to step aside.Gingrich was controversial.
Some GOP Members had knives out for him and believed Gingrich overplayed his hand pushing for impeachment of President Clinton.This, coupled with Republicans nearly losing control of the House in the 1998 midterms, set the table for Gingrich to step aside.Republicans tapped then-Rep.
Bob Livingston, R-La., Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, to become Speaker in 1999.MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES - JULY 17: Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, speaks during the third day of Republican National Convention at the Fi...