Former Pennsylvania governor Scranton dies; he entered politics after a brief legal career
Former Pennsylvania Gov. William Scranton died on Sunday at the age of 96.
Scranton was also a congressman and served as the U.S. representative to the United Nations. He was a Yale law grad who briefly practiced law, then worked in textbook publishing, banking and industrial development, before joining politics. He made a bid to become the Republican presidential nominee in 1964, but lost to Barry Goldwater. The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer have obituaries.
Scranton, a moderate, was limited to one term as governor by the state constitution. Before leaving office, he declared that he would never again seek public office. “It turned out that he meant what he said,” the Times says.
For Scranton, the Inquirer says, politics “was an act of service, a duty rather than a passion. He served presidents in various capacities. But to many observers, his distaste for seeking power kept him from attaining more influential positions that he could have won, possibly even the White House.”
Scranton died of a cerebral hemorrhage, a family spokesperson told the Times.
