Complex sentence: An American academic and politician, John Silber had a controversial career serving as the president of Boston University and unsuccessfully ran as the Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts in the 1990 election, with a conservative platform and lost to the moderate Republican William Weld.
Split into simpler sentences: An American academic and politician, John Silber was controversial in his tenure as president of Boston University. He unsuccessfully ran as the Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts in the 1990 election, with a conservative platform and lost to the moderate Republican William Weld.