Orrin Hatch

Early life and education

Orrin Grant Hatch was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He was the son of Jesse Hatch (1904–1992), a metal lather, and his wife Helen Frances Hatch (née Kamm; 1906–1995). Hatch had eight brothers and sisters, two of whom died during infancy. Hatch was profoundly affected by the loss of his older brother Jesse, a U.S. Army Air Forces nose turret gunner with the 725th Bombardment Squadron who was killed on February 7, 1945, when the B-24 he was aboard was shot down over German Austria.

Hatch, who grew up in poverty, was the first in his family to attend college; he attended Brigham Young University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1959. He also fought 11 bouts as an amateur boxer. In 1962, Hatch received a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Hatch has stated that during law school, he and his young family resided in a refurbished chicken coop behind his parents' house. Hatch worked as an attorney in Pittsburgh and moved to Utah in 1969, where he continued to practice law.

Elections

In 1976, in his first run for public office, Hatch was elected to the United States Senate, defeating Democrat Frank Moss, a three-term incumbent. Hatch criticized Moss's 18-year tenure in the Senate, saying, "What do you call a Senator who's served in office for 18 years? You call him home." Hatch ran on the promise of term limits and argued that many senators, including Moss, had lost touch with their constituents.

In 1982, Hatch won re-election, defeating Ted Wilson, the mayor of Salt Lake City, by 17 points. He defeated Brian Moss (Frank Moss' son) by 35 points in 1988 and was re-elected in 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2012.

In 2000, Hatch campaigned for the Republican Party nomination for president. After finishing last in the Iowa caucuses, Hatch withdrew his candidacy on January 27, 2000, and endorsed the eventual winner George W. Bush.

2012 Senate election

After the defeat of Utah's Senator Bob Bennett in 2010, conjecture began as to whether six-term Senator Hatch would retire in 2012. It was also speculated that Congressman Jason Chaffetz would run against Hatch, though Chaffetz would later decline. In January 2011, Hatch announced his campaign for re-election. Later, nine other Republicans, including former State Senator Dan Liljenquist and then-State Legislator Chris Herrod, declared campaigns for U.S. Senator.

Having elected state delegates in mid-March, both the Democratic and Republican parties held conventions on April 21, with the possibilities to determine their nominees for the November general election. At the Republican convention, Hatch failed to get the 60% vote needed to clinch the Republican nomination, so he faced Liljenquist (the second-place finisher) in the June 26 primary. Hatch won the primary easily. It was Hatch's first primary competition since his election in 1976. The Democratic convention chose former state senator and IBM executive Scott Howell as the Democratic Party candidate. Hatch defeated Howell, receiving 65.2% of the vote to Howell's 30.2%.

2016 presidential endorsements

In the 2016 presidential election, Hatch originally supported former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and later endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio once Bush ended his campaign. On May 12, 2016, after Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Hatch endorsed him. On May 27, 2016, after Trump suggested that a federal judge Gonzalo P. Curiel was biased against Trump because of his Mexican heritage, Hatch said: "From what I know about Trump, he's not a racist but he does make a lot of outrageous statements ... I think you can criticize a judge but it ought to be done in a formal way" and said that Trump's statements were not so inappropriate that he would rescind his support. On October 7, 2016, following the Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Hatch described Trump's comments as "offensive and disgusting" and said that "[there] is no excuse for such degrading behavior. All women deserve to be treated with respect." Hatch maintained his endorsement of Trump's candidacy.

U.S. Senate tenure

Hatch took office as a U.S. senator on January 3, 1977. He chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 1981 to 1987. He also served as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.

In September 1989, Hatch was one of nine Republican senators appointed by Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole to negotiate a dispute with Democrats over the financing of President George HW

Bush's anti-drug plan that called for spending $7.8 billion by the following year as part of the president's efforts to address narcotics nationwide and abroad.

Hatch long expressed interest in serving on the U.S. Supreme Court. It was reported that he was on Ronald Reagan's short list of candidates to succeed Lewis F. Powell Jr. on the Supreme Court, but was passed over at least in part because of the Ineligibility Clause. Despite that, he vocally supported Robert Bork, who was nominated for the vacancy instead.

Hatch "worked across the aisle to pass landmark legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Children's Health Insurance Program". During the 1991 confirmation hearings regarding the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas, Hatch "famously defended Thomas ... by reading aloud from The Exorcist to suggest Anita Hill lifted details of her sexual harassment allegations from the horror book".

On January 3, 2015, after the 114th Congress was sworn in, Hatch became President pro tempore of the Senate.

Hatch was absent from the 2017 Inauguration Day festivities. At the request of President-elect Donald Trump, he agreed to serve as designated survivor during the inauguration and was kept at a secure, undisclosed location.

On December 25, 2017, The Salt Lake Tribune published an editorial entitled "Why Orrin Hatch is Utahn of the Year". The newspaper described its criteria for the designation as "Utahn of the Year" as "the Utahn who, over the past 12 months, has done the most. Has made the most news. Has had the biggest impact. For good or for ill." The editorial criticized Hatch for his role in the size reduction of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and accused him of lacking integrity.

Political positions and votes

Hatch was strongly opposed to abortion and is the author of the Hatch Amendment proposed to the U.S. Constitution, which states that there is no constitutional right to abortion and would empower the states to restrict abortion as they see fit.

In 1995, Hatch was the leading figure behind the Senate's anti-terrorism bill, to a large extent a response to the Oklahoma City Bombing. Elements of the bill were criticised by the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee on civil liberties grounds, especially the new limits imposed on habeas corpus in capital cases.

As a senior member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hatch was also instrumental in the 2008 extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He said, "This bipartisan bill will help defeat terrorism and keep America safe. No, the legislation is not perfect, but it ensures that the increased expansion of the judiciary into foreign intelligence gathering doesn't unnecessarily hamper our intelligence community."

Hatch voted in favor of the 2008 legislation that established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In 2011, Hatch said that he "probably made a mistake voting for it", and also claimed "at the time, we were in real trouble and it looked like we were ready for a depression. I believe we would have gone into a depression."

He voted against the renewal of TARP in 2009, and the renewal was voted down by 10 votes in the Senate.

Hatch voted in favor of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The bill authorized $300 billion to guarantee mortgages and restore confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Hatch was a longtime advocate of amending the United States Constitution to require that total spending of the federal government for any fiscal year not exceed total receipts.

During his time in the Senate, Hatch sponsored a balanced budget amendment 17 times—4 times as lead sponsor and 13 times as a co-sponsor. He also voted in favor of passing a Balanced Budget Amendment on at least nine occasions. Hatch's proposed amendment passed the House of Representatives in 1997, but failed to pass the Senate by the required two-thirds majority by one vote to move on the states for ratification.

Committee assignments

Committee on Finance (chairman)

As chairman of the full committee, Hatch may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees of which he was not already a full member.

Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness

Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy

Committee on the Judiciary

Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights

Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs

Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Subcommittee on Children and Families

Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety

Special Committee on Aging

Joint Committee on Taxation

Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. (Vice Chair)

Caucus memberships

Afterschool Caucuses

Lobbying ties

Hatch's son Scott Hatch was formerly a partner and registered lobbyist at Walker, Martin & Hatch LLC, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm. The firm was formed in 2001 with Jack Martin, a staff aide to Hatch for six years, and H. Laird Walker, described as a close associate of the senator. In March 2003, the Los Angeles Times reported that the firm was formed with Hatch's personal encouragement and that he saw no conflict of interest in working on issues that involved his son's clients. In 2009, The Washington Times reported that Hatch said "My son, Scott, does not lobby me or anyone in my office".

In March 2009, The Washington Times reported that the pharmaceutical industry, which has benefited from Hatch's legislative efforts, had previously unreported connections to Hatch. In 2007, five pharmaceutical companies and the industry's main trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), donated $172,500 to the Utah Families Foundation—a charitable foundation which Hatch helped start in the 1990s and continued to support. Walker, Martin & Hatch LLC was paid $120,000 by PhRMA in 2007 to lobby Congress on pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration legislation. Hatch and his son also had close ties to the dietary supplement industry, which Hatch deregulated in 1994.

Personal life

Hatch married Elaine Hansen on August 28, 1957. They had six children. In January 2024, his son, Brent, declared his candidacy to replace Mitt Romney as a United States Senator for Utah in the 2024 election.

Hatch was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Although he was born in Pennsylvania, his parents had been raised in Utah and he had ancestors who were members of the LDS Church in Nauvoo, Illinois. Hatch served as a Latter-day Saint missionary in what was called the "Great Lakes States Mission" essentially covering large parts of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Hatch later served in various positions in the church, including as a bishop.

Hatch was a founder and co-chair of the Federalist Society, an organization of conservative lawyers.

Hatch served as a member of the board of directors of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In a 1996 interview on 60 Minutes, Hatch said he wears a mezuzah necklace in order to remind himself that another Holocaust should never be allowed to occur.

Despite their political differences, Hatch was a longtime friend of fellow senator Ted Kennedy, spoke at his memorial service in 2009, and publicly suggested Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie, as a replacement for Kennedy in the Senate.

Hatch was a close friend of Muhammad Ali. Ali campaigned for Hatch when he ran for reelection in 1988. Hatch spoke at Ali's funeral in 2016.

Death

Hatch died in Salt Lake City on April 23, 2022, aged 88, from complications of a stroke he had the week prior. He is buried in Newton.

Musical career and film appearances

Hatch played the piano, violin, and organ. Fueled by his interest in poetry, Hatch composed songs for many artists. One of his songs, "Unspoken", went platinum after appearing on WOW Hits 2005, a compilation of Christian pop music. He co-authored "Everything and More", sung by Billy Gilman. In addition to serving as a United States senator, Hatch earned over $10,000 as an LDS musical recording artist.

Rock musician Frank Zappa composed a guitar instrumental entitled "Orrin Hatch on Skis", which appears on his 1988 album, Guitar.

In March 1997, Hatch and Janice Kapp Perry jointly recorded an album with Tree Music entitled My God Is Love. Hatch's later albums with Perry included "Come to the Manger".

Hatch appeared as himself, alongside Chuck Grassley, in Steven Soderbergh's 2000 Oscar-winning drama Traffic, in a brief cameo in a scene set during a Washington, D.C. cocktail party. Soderbergh later featured one of Hatch's songs, "Souls Along The Way", in his film Ocean's 12 as background music for a scene in Hatch's home state of Utah.

Hatch and Janice Kapp Perry co-wrote the song "Heal Our Land", which was performed at George W. Bush's January 2005 inauguration.

Hatch, along with Lowell Alexander and Phil Naish, composed the 2006 song "Blades of Grass and Pure White Stones".

Hatch's likeness was featured in the 30 Rock episode "Jack Gets in the Game", aired in 2007, as one of Dr. Leo Spaceman's famous clients.

In 2009, at the request of The Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg, Hatch wrote the lyrics to "Eight Days of Hanukkah", described by Goldberg as "a hip hop Hannukah song written by the senior senator from Utah."

Hatch appeared in a 2015 scene in the Parks and Recreation episode "Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington" alongside Cory Booker.

Writing

Orrin Hatch, The Equal Rights Amendment: Myths and Realities, Savant Press (1983)

Orrin Hatch, Higher Laws: Understanding the Doctrines of Christ , Shadow Mountain (1995) ISBN 978-0-87579-896-7

Orrin Hatch, Square Peg: Confessions of a Citizen Senator, Basic Books (2002) ISBN 978-0-465-02867-2

Orrin Hatch, Orrin Hatch, the L.D.S. Mormon Politician as Songwriter, text of an interview of Orrin Hatch by Phillip K. Bimstein, in Washington, D.C., August 14, 2003, transcribed by Jonathan Murphy, New York City, American Music Center, 2003, without ISBN.

Honors

Hatch had been awarded the following:

Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (June 8, 2017)

Order of Duke Branimir, Republic of Croatia (October 29, 2018)

Presidential Medal of Freedom (November 16, 2018)

Secretary of the Air Force Distinguished Public Service Award (December 11, 2018)