Former Gov. Buddy MacKay, a long-time Florida politician who became governor for nearly a month following the abrupt death of Gov. Lawton Chiles in late 1998, died in his sleep on Tuesday afternoon surrounded by his adult sons and wife,

Former Florida Gov. Kenneth “Buddy” MacKay, 91, died peacefully during an afternoon nap at his home in Ocala surrounded by his wife and sons on New Year’s Eve, a family spokesman said Thursday. MacKay’s decades-long public-service career included stints as a state legislator, U.S. representative, lieutenant governor and — briefly — governor.

Floridians honored the lifelong public servant not just for his 23 days as governor, but his time as a state legislator, congressman and diplomat.

John Kennedy, Florida Capital Bureau reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper, spoke with FOX 35's Garrett Wymer about covering Buddy MacKay and how history will remember him. MacKay, 91, died on New Year's Eve at his home in Ocala.

MacKay, an Ocala native, was elected lieutenant governor in 1990 and 1994 alongside the late Gov. Lawton Chiles. He served as governor briefly after Chiles’ death in 1998.