Orrin Hatch was a Republican from Utah.
The former senator passed away in Salt Lake City surrounded by his family.
Hatch rose through the ranks of society to become a lawyer and was one of the longest-serving legislators in US history.
Hatch is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in 1962. He practiced law in Pittsburgh before moving to Utah.
Hatch was an amateur boxer and decided to challenge Frank Moss in the Utah Senate race. After ousting Moss, Hatch began a career that would last 41 years and include many accomplishments as he chaired the powerful committees on Finance, Judiciary, and Labor.
He lost the Republican presidential nomination to George W. Bush in 2000.
Hatch was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed to civilians by the commander-in-chief, in the final weeks of his Senate career.
Hatch retired from the Senate in January.
Hatch came to the Senate in 1977 and was known for his quick wit and off-the-cuff remarks. He passed more than 800 bills during his career.
Hatch's stock increased in Washington during the Reagan administration.
Hatch was nominated to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan. According to a 1987 report from The New York Times, Hatch couldn't serve in the role due to limitations on lawmakers being selected for positions that Congress elevated the pay for while serving in Congress.
Hatch shepherded one of his signature accomplishments through the Senate during the Clinton administration. The late-Sen. was partnering with him. Millions of children across the United States had health insurance coverage thanks to Ted Kennedy's CHIP.
Hatch was like most Republicans, fighting tooth and nail against the achievements of the Democrats.
Hatch referred to supporters of the health care law as dumb.
He said that the bill was the dumbest he had ever seen. If you do, you are one of the dumbest people I have ever met.
In the last few years of his Senate tenure, Hatch played a pivotal role in some of the most high-profile accomplishments of the Republican-led government. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the primary legislative achievement of Trump's presidency.
Hatch lamented in his farewell address that it was one of the low points in the Senate when Republicans and Democrats were at each other's throats during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
He said that the loss of comity and genuine good feeling among Senate colleagues was the root of the crisis. In the past few years, that cartilage has been ground to a nub. All movement is bone on bone.
Our ideas are grating against each other and with nothing to absorb the friction. Hatch said in his last floor speech before Christmas that they had to get any bipartisan legislation to the Senate floor, much less to the President's desk.
Romney succeeded Hatch in the seat left vacant by his retirement.
Hatch changed and evolved over time. Hatch was a supporter of keeping marriage between a man and a woman. He took such harsh tones on gay Americans in the early days of his career that he claimed they have a psychological deficiency.
Hatch told the Salt Lake Tribune in 1977 that he wouldn't want homosexuals teaching school anymore than he would want members of the American Nazi Party to teach.
He changed his mind decades later. Hatch delivered a speech on the floor in defense of LGBT Americans.
He said during Pride Month that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer youth deserve our love and support.
We desperately need these young people to illuminate the richness and diversity of God's creations. They bring grace, beauty, and brilliance to the world.
Hatch was a hawk during the Clinton impeachment proceedings in 1999 and took a more laissez faire approach to the criminal prosecutions of Trump associates at the end of his career.
Hatch told CNN that he was not concerned that so many of Trump's close allies were involved in crimes.
The economy has charged ahead since he became president, and I think we should judge him on that basis.
Hatch's legacy will be felt in many areas of society, through legislation he personally navigated through the Senate, his lasting impact on the institution as a whole, and his long career as one of the most prominent.
In his final speech on the Senate floor, Hatch said that when we listen to the voices of virtue native to our nature, we can preserve our democracy for future generations.
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