He was a vocal opponent of segregation, poverty, McCarthyism, and the Vietnam War. In March 1965. he joined Martin Luther King Jr. on the voting-rights march from SelmatoMontgomery, Alabama. Sayre was unafraid to denounce SenatorJoseph McCarthy during the height of the latter's influence in the 1950s. In 1954, Sayre called McCarthy a "pretended patriot", adding "There is a devilish indecision about any society that will permit an impostor like McCarthy to caper out front while the main army stands idly by."[1]
Sayre retired as Dean in 1978. He died three decades later, on October 3, 2008, aged 93, at his home on Martha's Vineyard from diabetes. His ashes were interred later that month at the National Cathedral, where he had held the position of Dean and where he has been memorialized. He was survived by two daughters, two sons, and eight grandchildren.
President John F. Kennedy signs S.J. Res. 51, authoring the creation of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Commission, a commission to plan for the construction of a permanent memorial to President Woodrow Wilson in Washington, D.C. Seated (L – R): President Kennedy; Edith Wilson, wife of President Wilson. Standing (L – R): Francis B. Sayre, son-in-law of President Wilson; Senator Harrison A. Williams (New Jersey); Congressman Frank C. Osmers Jr. (New Jersey); Harriet Sayre, wife of Reverend Francis B. Sayre, Jr.; Reverend Sayre, grandson of President Wilson; Tom Sayre, Reverend Sayre's son (partially hidden); Margaret C. Brown, personal secretary to Mrs. Wilson; Jessie Sayer, Reverend Sayre's daughter; Under Secretary of the Interior John A. Carver Jr.; Arthur Sweetser, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Sayre was awarded permanent, honorary membership at The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 1964. The organization sought to recognize his work in overseeing the purchase and construction of the 53-bell carillon at Washington National Cathedral.[4]
