Senator Orin Hatch speaks at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Monday, December 4, 2017 (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY – Retired Utah Sen. Orin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, died Saturday at the age of 88.
Matt Sandgren, executive director of the Hatch Foundation, said Hatch embodies the American dream.
“Born the son of a carpenter and plaster foam, he overcame the poverty of his youth to become a senator in the United States. With the difficulties of his upbringing, always fresh in his mind, he set himself the mission of his life to expand his freedom and opportunities for others – and the results speak for themselves. “
Hatch was first elected in 1976 and served 42 years in the Senate until retiring after his seventh term in 2019.
From taxes and trade to religious freedom and health care, few lawmakers have had a greater impact on American life than Hatch, Sandgren said.
“He had a profoundly positive impact on the lives of those he served, whether it was the voters he helped over four decades of casework, the hundreds of interns he sponsored in both Utah and the District of Columbia. , or the healthy network of Hatch employees who continue his legacy to this day, “he said.
Scott Anderson, chairman of the Hatch Foundation, described the senator as a man of wisdom, kindness, character and compassion. Hatch, he said, “was all it took to be a senator from the United States.”
Anderson said Hatch is an example of a generation of lawmakers brought up on the principles of courtesy and compromise, and he embodies those principles better than anyone.
“In a divided nation, Orin Hatch has helped us show a better way by building meaningful friendships on both sides of the path. Today, more than ever, it will be good to follow his example,” he said.
Prior to his election to the Senate in 1976, Senator Hatch did not hold public office.
The Hatch Foundation sadly announces the death of Senator Orin G. Hatch, the former Pro Tempore President of the United States Senate and the longest-serving senator in Utah history (1977-2019).
To learn more about his amazing life, click here: https://t.co/XFOMEYbe2lpic.twitter.com/dCGa7ew11f
– Orrin G. Hatch Foundation (@OrrinHatch) April 24, 2022
A political outsider, he entered the race as a dark horse for the Republican nomination to oppose the three terms of the incumbent Democrat Frank E. Moss, submitting his candidacy on the last possible day.
His campaign was based on the guiding principles of limited governance, tax restrictions and integrity in the civil service. He went on to defeat Senator Moss, who many said could not be defeated, with 54 percent of the vote.
Hatch was recognized by the National Union of Taxpayers for his fiscal responsibility and was named by others as “Mr. Free Entrepreneurship”, “Guardian of Small Business” and “Mr. Constitution”.
He was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was the second Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and also a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Indian Affairs Committee, the Special Aging Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.
Hatch also has the honor of serving on the board of directors of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC
He received five honorary doctorates from law schools and universities.
Operations Kids honored sen. Hatch in 2004 with his Lifetime Achievement Award. Celebrities such as Donnie Osmond, Larry King, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve Young and others honored him at a gala event for this recognition.
Born March 22, 1934, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his great-grandfather Jeremiah Hatch founded the town of Vernal in Utah in 1878.
At 6 feet 2 inches tall, the sport was a big part of his young life, playing basketball and boxing. He was captain of his high school basketball team and turned down a scholarship to college back east in favor of visiting BYU. At Y, his domestic basketball team won the highest school honors.
Hatch also had a passion for music. He learned to play the piano, organ and violin.
He was sometimes called “the American senator, songwriter.” He co-wrote “Unspoken”, which was recorded by Jaci Velasquez and selected for “WOW Hits 2005”, a compilation of Christian pop music and has sold more than 1 million copies, winning Hatch his first gold and platinum album.
“Some people who never listen to my music, they just can’t imagine how a senator can write music. “They just write it off as a trick, but I think that means it’s not a trick,” he told Deseret News in 2006.
He wrote “Unspoken” with Madeleine Stone and Toby Gad.
At Pittsburgh High School, he was elected to the Student Senate and later president of the student organization.
As a young man, Hatch learned the craft of metal lathes, like his father, and was a member of the AFL-CIO carrying cards. He worked through Brigham Young University College, graduating in 1959 with a degree in history.
He was awarded a full scholarship with honors at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As a law student, he worked as a cleaner, foam on metal and at night, as a gas station employee and even as a night shift attendant at a girls’ dormitory. In 1962 he received a doctorate in law, which he graduated with honors.
After receiving his law degree, Senator Hatch was a practicing lawyer, first in Pennsylvania, then in Utah, until his election to the United States Senate in 1976.
Hatch served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1954 to the Great Lakes. He later also served as bishop for the 10th district of East Mill Creek, and also in the high council of the stake. He was also a guide in Salt Lake Temple Square for a short time.
He married former Elaine Hansen of Newton, Cash County on August 28, 1957. The two met in an astronomy class at BYU. They have six children.
×
Photos
Denis Romboy
Dennis Romboy is an editor and reporter for Deseret News. Over the years, he has covered a variety of beats, including state and local government, social affairs and the courts. Born in Utah, Romboy holds a degree in journalism from the University of Utah. He loves cycling, snowboarding and running.
Add Comment