Robert Foster "Bob" Bennett was a United States Senator from Utah, and a member of the Republican Party. Bob Bennett, 82, died Wednesday after battling pancreatic cancer and suffering a recent stroke, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

He served three terms in the Senate, from 1993 to 2011. His father was U.S. Sen. Wallace Foster Bennett, who represented Utah from 1951 to 1974.

According to the Tribune, Bob Bennett had a moderate political attitude who sought compromise rather confrontation. More clearly, he was the type of Republican that tea party activists sought to remove from Washington.

Bennett was a popular and reliably conservative senator for most of his tenure, earning high ratings from conservative activist groups such as the National Rifle Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Conservative Union. However, in 2010 Bennett became one of the most prominent targets of the Tea Party Movement, which criticized his support of the Bush Administration's bank bailout and argued that Bennett was insufficiently conservative. Despite an enthusiastic endorsement from Mitt Romney, Bennett was denied a place on the primary ballot by the 2010 Utah State Republican Convention, placing third behind two Tea-Party-backed candidates.

Social media sites flooded with tributes from his family and friends on Wednesday. Along with many other colleagues Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to expressed their emotions.

In a Facebook post, Romney wrote: "What I will remember most about Senator Bennett is his unwavering commitment to principle; his is an example of integrity and character that will long live in the memories of all of us who knew him. God be with you, Bob, till we meet again at Jesus' feet."

Rest in peace!