FRANK SARGENT BORN NINETY-EIGHT YEARS AGO

FRANCIS W. SARGENT 

July 29, 1915-October 21, 1998 

64th Governor of 
the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts 

(Republican) 

1969-1975 

The official profile, here; two obituaries, here and here. 

From an appreciation in the Boston Globe by David Nyhan (October 23, 1998, p. A27): 

No politician of his rank had more fun in office, as often at his own expense as at another's. He was not a complicated man, of twisted psyche, inner turmoil, or desperate ambition. Frank was Frank: a beautiful man, a solid friend, an able leader, an honest public servant. And a million laughs. What's not to prize in such a splendid fellow, now dead at 83? 

He was a product of distinguished and distinctive Massachusetts Yankee lineage, educated well, but not overly so, at Noble & Greenough and MIT -- hence the desktop motto: "Don't ask me; I didn't go to Harvard." Like a lot of his generation who survived World War II, he made the most of what he came back to. A skier-sportsman of the hardy New England variety, he wound up in the fabled 10th Mountain Division that trained hard in Colorado for Alpine combat, then was tossed into midsummer fury of the Italian campaign, where Captain Frank picked up two sets of wounds, a Bronze Star, and other medals.