Dennis Hastert, the 'Accidental Speaker' Who Ended in Prison, Dies at 84
J. Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the U.S. House, died at age 84 of natural causes at his home in Plano, Illinois. He served as Speaker from 1999 to 2007, advancing President George W. Bush’s agenda, but his legacy was defined by a 2016 prison sentence for bank fraud related to hush money payments to conceal sexual abuse of teenage wrestlers. He is the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to serve jail time.