Orrin Hatch
Orrin HatchREUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Orrin Hatch, the long-serving Republican US senator from Utah, died on Saturday at age 88, according to Reuters.

His death was announced by the nonprofit Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, which said he died surrounded by family in Salt Lake City.

Hatch was born on March 22, 1934, in Pennsylvania and grew up in a poor family in Pittsburgh during the Great Depression. He practiced law after college and was a complete unknown when he decided to run for the Senate in Utah in 1976.

He held a seat in the Senate from 1977 to 2019 and served under eight presidents, starting in the waning days of Gerald Ford's term and ending with Donald Trump's first two years in office. He served in the Senate longer than any other Republican ever.

Trump awarded him the Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor, in 2018. That year, Hatch announced he would be stepping down and not seeking re-election.

Hatch fiercely advocated for conservative Supreme Court nominees including Robert Bork - nominated in 1987 by Reagan but rejected by the Senate - as well as Clarence Thomas, nominated in 1991 by Republican George W. Bush and narrowly confirmed by the Senate, and Brett Kavanaugh, nominated by Republican Trump and also narrowly confirmed by the Senate in 2018.

Hatch also ran for his party's 2000 presidential nomination but dropped out early in the race.

He is survived by his wife Elaine and their six children.

AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby in the US, issued a statement following the death of Hatch.

"We mourn the passing of Senator Orrin Hatch who was a committed champion of the U.S.-Israel relationship. He had a genuine affection for the Jewish state and was a stalwart friend of Israel. We extend our condolences to his family and his former colleagues."