Former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert spoke to POLS 307 students at NIU on Monday, November 29.
As Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert would occasionally meet face-to-face with the President of the United States as many as three times a day. On Monday the former Speaker had face time for nearly an hour with students in a political science 307 class at NIU.
DuSable Hall might be a along long way from the halls of Congress where Hastert represented Illinois’ 14th congressional district for 20 years. He served as Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007 – the longest running term for a Republican in that position in U.S. history.
However, the NIU alumnus is certainly no stranger to the classroom.
“I spent a whole lifetime over in Graham Hall,” Hastert told the students, referring to his days as a graduate student in NIU’s College of Education.
Hastert, who grew up in Oswego, graduated from Wheaton College before attending NIU, where he earned a master’s degree in education in 1967. Hastert taught for 16 years at Yorkville High School, covering courses in economics, government, history, speech and business education. He also coached wrestling and football, leading the Yorkville wrestling team to a state title in 1976 prior to entering the political arena.
“You know, I even drove the school bus,” Hastert said. “You did everything if you were at one of the small high schools.”
Hastert said he first entertained the notion of politics in 1980 after reading that his state representative was stepping down.
“Here’s a seat in the Illinois legislature, and it’s in my district,” Hastert said. “I’d like to do that. I was kind of naïve. I was a school teacher. I knew the theory. I knew a bill went into law. You read that in text books. That’s how it works.”
Hastert offered advice to the political science students in attendance.
“Nothing that you do in politics doesn’t have an economic impact,” he said. “And there’s nothing you should do in economics that doesn’t have a political impact of some kind. So these things really go together.”
“If you’re going to be a poli-sci major, get some economics so you really understand the basis of what drives political behavior.”
Hastert retired in November 2007 after serving two decades as a U.S. Congressman.
