Deaths on October 21

Francis W. Sargent, American soldier and politician, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1915)

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 governor when John Volpe resigned to become Secretary of Transportation under the Nixon Administration, however he simultaneously retained his position as Lieutenant Governor until Donald R. Dwight took his place in January 1971. 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.