Orrin Hatch | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2007 | |
United States Senator from Utah | |
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Frank Moss |
Succeeded by | Mitt Romney |
President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Patrick Leahy |
Succeeded by | Chuck Grassley |
Personal details | |
Born | Orrin Grant Hatch March 22, 1934 Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | April 23, 2022 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | (aged 88)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Elaine Hansen (m. 1957) |
Children | 6 |
Education | Brigham Young University (BA) University of Pittsburgh (JD) |
Awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom (2018) Canterbury Medal (2020) |
Signature | ![]() |
Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history, overtaking Ted Stevens, until Chuck Grassley surpassed him in 2023.
Hatch chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 1981 to 1987. He served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001 and 2003 to 2005. On January 3, 2015, after the 114th United States Congress was sworn in, he became president pro tempore of the Senate. He was chair of the Senate Finance Committee from 2015 to 2019, and led efforts to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.