Dennis Hastert, who served as speaker from 1999 to 2007, was one of the most powerful figures in Washington before his legacy was destroyed by revelations that he had sexually abused high school wrestlers while coaching in Illinois. He died of natural causes at his home, according to Jacquie Purcell, the Kendall County coroner.
Hastert rose from being a little-known Illinois lawmaker to succeed Newt Gingrich as speaker after Republicans lost seats in the 1998 midterm elections. In his first weeks on the job, he presided over the House during President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. He later helped pass much of George W. Bush's legislative agenda, including large tax cuts and a major expansion of Medicare prescription drug benefits.
His downfall began in 2015 when he was accused of evading banking regulations as part of a plan to pay hush money to conceal unspecified "prior misconduct." Prosecutors later revealed that the misconduct involved the sexual abuse of at least four teenage boys on his wrestling team between 1965 and 1981. Hastert, a former history teacher and wrestling coach who was named national coach of the year in 1976, had paid more than $1.7 million of a promised $3.5 million to one victim, sometimes in lump sums of $100,000 cash.
In 2016, Hastert pleaded guilty to evading banking laws and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. At the sentencing hearing, the judge called him a "serial child molester." One former wrestler struggled with emotion as he told the court about his "dark secret" from adolescence. Hastert said he was "deeply ashamed" and admitted he "mistreated" some of his athletes, but never directly referred to sexual abuse. He became one of the highest-ranking US politicians ever ordered to prison.