Francis W. Sargent

Francis Williams Sargent (July 29, 1915 – October 22, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 63rd Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1967 to 1971. In 1969, he became acting governor when John A. Volpe resigned to become Secretary of Transportation under the Nixon Administration. In 1970, he was elected governor in his own right, defeating the Democratic Party's nominee Kevin White. He lost reelection in 1974 to Democrat Michael Dukakis, who would go on to be the Democratic Party's nominee for President in 1988. Early life, education, and early career Sargent was born in 1915 in Hamilton, Massachusetts, the son of Margery (Lee) and Francis Williams Sargent. He was known for his sharp wit and self-deprecating manner. A Republican, "Sarge" graduated from Charles River School, and then Noble and Greenough School. Sargent was a student in the architecture program (class of 1939) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a classmate and friend of architect I.M. Pei. Sargent received a special degree in architecture after completing four years of what was then a five-year program, rather than a normal graduation. After MIT, Sargent worked for the architectural firm of Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott as a draftsman, leaving to work as a carpenter for a general contractor to learn the building trade. He then started his own firm, Sargent & Sweeney.