Orrin Grant Hatch was an American attorney and politician, a prominent figure in the Republican Party, and a long-serving U.S. Senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. His 42-year tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history until surpassed by Chuck Grassley in 2023. Born on March 22, 1934, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, to a working-class family, Hatch graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts in liberal arts in 1959 and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1962. After practicing law as a partner at Thomson, Rhodes and Grigsby in Pittsburgh from 1962 to 1969, he moved to Utah in 1969 and entered politics, winning a Senate seat in 1976 as a conservative challenger to Democratic incumbent Frank Moss. Throughout his career, Hatch was a staunch conservative on issues like abortion, gun rights, judicial nominations, limited government, and traditional values. He chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee (1995-2001, 2003-2005, 2015-2017) and the Senate Finance Committee (1981-1987, 1995-2001, 2003-2005, 2015-2017), influencing key legislation on healthcare, intellectual property, tax policy, children's health insurance, and disability rights. He was noted for bipartisan efforts, such as co-authoring the Hatch-Waxman Act with Ted Kennedy to balance pharmaceutical innovation and generic drug access, though criticized for provisions that allegedly delayed generics to benefit big pharma. Hatch's career was marked by controversies, including his role in the 1987 rejection of Robert Bork's Supreme Court nomination, the 1991 Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings where he aggressively defended Thomas against sexual harassment allegations, and his 2018 defense of Brett Kavanaugh amid similar accusations. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, withdrawing to endorse George W. Bush. A devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hatch served as a high priest and was a hymnwriter, composing over 60 hymns including 'Computer' which became part of the church hymnal. He faced allegations of ethical lapses, such as using his senatorial influence to benefit family members in the music industry and pharmaceutical lobbying ties, questions over his involvement in the 2000 music downloading lawsuits against Napster where he advocated for harsh penalties against file-sharers while receiving support from the recording industry, and criticism for his close ties to the pharmaceutical industry, receiving significant campaign donations and advocating for policies favoring drug companies. Hatch retired in 2019 and passed away on April 23, 2022, in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age 88, leaving a legacy as a conservative stalwart with occasional bipartisan outreach.