Dennis Hastert

A former high school history teacher and wrestling coach from Illinois, Dennis Hastert served as Speaker of the US House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007, the longest tenure of any Republican in the post. He presided over the House during the Clinton impeachment period and helped pass much of President George W. Bush's agenda before stepping down as speaker in 2007 and resigning his seat later that year. In 2015 he was charged with evading banking laws to make hush-money payments, and prosecutors later said the payments concealed sexual abuse of at least four teenage wrestlers he had coached. He pleaded guilty to the banking offence and was sentenced in 2016 to 15 months in prison. Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell said he died of natural causes at his home under hospice care on October 3 at the age of 84.