Orrin Hatch

Raised with a strong work ethic and intense Mormon faith, Republican Orrin Hatch emphasized his commitment to ensuring the quality of life for those citizens who need it most during his time representing Utah in the US Senate. Despite his personal conservative beliefs, Hatch struggled to enact several controversial legislative decisions, including helping AIDS patients receive financial assistance for adequate health care. His long political career included friendly working relationships across the partisan aisle, with Republicans such as President Ronald Reagan and Democrats such as Senator Ted Kennedy.

Early Life and Education

Orrin Grant Hatch was born March 22, 1934, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During his childhood, his interests lay in sports and the arts, enabling him to befriend Vernon Law, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The family's proximity to the city enabled him to attend concerts and art galleries, influencing the young Hatch to try his hand at music. As with most of his endeavors, he excelled at music and became respected as a singer and songwriter. The son of working-class New Deal Democrats, Hatch quickly became an advocate for labor issues and social justice, and even became a member of the AFL-CIO labor union.

Hatch studied at Brigham Young University, during which time he also served at the Great Lakes Mission. Committed to the Mormon Church and his work ethic, Hatch served a second two-year mission in place of his brother, who was killed in World War II (1939–45). These missions were said to have changed Hatch's political beliefs dramatically, shaping him into the conservative Republican he became known to be. He completed his undergraduate degree in history in 1957.

Hatch worked his way through law school, receiving his degree from the University of Pittsburgh Law School. He began practicing law in Pittsburgh in 1962, and moved his family back to Utah in 1969, where he practiced in several different law firms before forming his own private practice.

Reagan's Ally

In 1976, despite overwhelming odds and discouragement from his family, Hatch decided to pursue a career in politics, and ran for a US Senate seat. He was elected, thanks in no small part to the campaign assistance of Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. This aid ensured Hatch's loyalty to Reagan for the entirety of the president's two terms in office. On many occasions, Hatch lobbied on Reagan's behalf, even acting as the president's representative around the country whenever Reagan could not be present himself.

In 1985, during a crucial period in the Cold War, Hatch was appointed to the Senate Intelligence Committee. In this role, he encouraged military and economic aid to anti-communist resistance groups around the globe, including the Nicaraguan Contras and the Mujahideen of Afghanistan. These dealings, in which Hatch was never directly involved, later became known as the infamous Iran-Contra Affair.

Hatch again received support from Reagan when he asked the president to sign several controversial bills that Hatch considered extremely important. The most notable of these was a comprehensive health bill containing provisions to assist those afflicted with AIDS. Hatch managed to get the bill passed by pointing out that, contrary to popular opinion, the disease was not exclusive to the gay community. It was at this point that Hatch established his reputation as a politician more concerned with doing what he believed was right for the nation as a whole, regardless of his personal beliefs.

Political Agenda

Hatch supported his share of controversial legislative initiatives, including a plan that would provide compensation for families suffering from long-term illness caused by nuclear testing. Hatch contributed extensively to the Americans with Disabilities Act and joined in the promotion of the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act.

Though he considered himself an advocate for the rights of the working class, Hatch also urged awareness of the changing nature of the US economy. The Labor Law Reform Bill of 1978 was an issue in which he believed passionately despite strong criticism, claiming that workers no longer needed unions to protect them from employer exploitation. He was also active in social causes; the Child Care Services Improvement Act, which he also supported, was seen by some conservatives as a step in the destruction of the "traditional" family. However, Hatch argued that society was continually changing, and with more single-parent households emerging, it was impractical not to assure quality, low-cost child care.

In his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a position he held at various times from 1995 to 2005, Hatch worked to institute more stringent crime laws and was involved is several efforts to reform the civil justice system, including immigration, antitrust, and constitutional issues. Hatch also served on the Senate Finance Committee, eventually chairing it beginning in 2015. On this committee, Hatch championed the Capital Formation Act of 1997, which was designed to stimulate public investment and savings. Hatch was also involved in various legislative measures advocating welfare reform, such as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Among the other committees of which Hatch served as a member were the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the Special Committee on Aging, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Joint Economic Committee.

Presidential Bid

In 1999, Hatch announced his candidacy for president in the 2000 election. In commentary surrounding the announcement, Hatch declared, "Why not me?" and seemed to carry this theme throughout his candidacy. Though an experienced and seasoned politician, Hatch failed to secure the Republican nomination. Many analysts considered the defeat primarily due to a lack of campaign funding, as well as the fact that Hatch was competing against eleven other candidates.

Final Years in the Senate

By 2007, Hatch was the longest-serving senator in Utah history. In 2012, amid increasing partisan polarization in the country, he faced his first Republican primary challenge since being elected to the Senate. Conservative organizations like the Club for Growth said it was time for a change in Utah, as Hatch had proven insufficiently conservative on a host of issues such as the bank bailouts of 2008 and government support for education and children's health care. However, he ultimately beat former state senator Dan Liljenquist in the Republican primary and went on to be reelected to a seventh term.

In 2015, following the Republican takeover of the Senate in the 2014 elections, Hatch became president pro tempore of the Senate, that body's second-highest-ranking position after majority leader. He was one of twenty-two senators who, in 2017, signed a letter urging President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, a major international climate agreement, which Trump then did. Hatch also took a leading role in the passage of Republican-backed tax cuts, a major priority of the Trump administration.

Retirement and Death

In January 2018, Hatch announced that, after more than four decades in the Senate, he would retire when his term ended in January 2019. Former Republican presidential candidate and fellow Mormon Mitt Romney was elected as his successor. In November 2018 Hatch was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Trump. The nomination cited the longtime senator's steadfast leadership for Utah and his strong influence in the Senate, having sponsored more bills in his career than any member of Congress alive at the time.

Hatch died in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 23, 2022, due to complications from a stroke.

Personal Life

In 1957, Hatch married Utah native Elaine Hansen. The couple would go on to have six children and twenty-three grandchildren together.

Bibliography

Golshan, Tara. "Orrin Hatch Just Announced He'll Retire from the Senate." Vox, 2 Jan. 2018, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/2/16679690/orrin-hatch-retirement. Accessed 9 Apr. 2018.

McFadden, Robert D. "Orrin Hatch, Seven-Term Senator and a Republican Force, Dies at 88." The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/04/23/us/politics/orrin-hatch-dead.html. Accessed 6 May 2022.

Neikirk, William. "Orrin Hatch: A Penchant for Pulling Off Upsets." Chicago Tribune, 21 Dec. 1999, articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-12-21/news/9912210239‗1‗orrin-hatch-gun-control-senate-colleagues. Accessed 9 Apr. 2018.

"Orrin Hatch." Ballotpedia, ballotpedia.org/Orrin‗Hatch. Accessed 9 Apr. 2018.

Robinson, Doug. "The Two Lives of Orrin Hatch." Deseret News, 6 July 2003, www.deseretnews.com/article/510037850/The-two-lives-of-Orrin-Hatch.html. Accessed 9 Apr. 2018.