William F. Buckley Considered Suicide In Final Months: Son

Conservative icon, National Review founder, and devout Catholic William F. Buckley, who died in February 2008 while battling emphysema, reportedly considered suicide in the last months of his life, according to his son Christopher.

Christopher Buckley revealed that detail in his book Losing Mum and Pup, which is out next month.

"His daily intake of pills would be enough to give Hunter S. Thompson pause," Christopher Buckley writes of his father's final months, according to Page Six. Buckley adds that his father even consulted two priests about the idea of suicide and was told the sin would be "forgivable."

Christopher Buckley also writes about his parents' tumultuous marriage in the book. According to a W profile of Christopher, William F. Buckley "comes through as a great man who didn't always have time for his son" in the book.

Compiled by Danny Shea

Comments

[bikerdude]

I never heard a priest say that suicide is acceptable. I was told that it was a mortal sin and would doom one to hell. This was vitally important to me because someone very close to me committed suicide and at that time I believed what the church said. I was devastated for years. I knew this person as a fine human being and certainly not deserving of hell...
This is the spread of damage spread by this holier than thou attitude of religions. How many wars have been waged because of religious belief?

[rockyersocksoff]

Don't worry about your friend.

There is as much chance that he's in Hell as there is that he's in Hogwarts.

[PuddyKatz]

What I have been told is that one has to be of a sufficiently sound mind to form a moral intent for something to be a sin. (Children, profoundly retarded people, etc. cannot form moral intention) One position would be that most people who commit suicide are deeply depressed and suffering from sufficient mental illness that they are incapable of forming a moral intention, therefore it would not be a sin.

[nana4g]

What is he intending to imply with the "daily intake of pills" that he mentions. The remark demonstrates a lack of understanding of the end life disease process of emphysema. Those pills were probably Morphine and Morphine is the drug of choice with those struggling to breathe because it helps to open the breathing tubes and also mitigates the individual's awareness of the feeling of suffocation.

The thoughts of suicide are also not uncommon is someone actively dying, for any reason, at end of life. All of this, however, is intensely personal and private and I believe it is a travesty of justice and his father's privacy at a very vulnerable time for his son to disclose these facts, especially since he had and has no real understanding of what was going on. What a shame that during the last earthly experience of this celebrated man---or any man's/woma­n's---life­, when he is at the mercy of those who care for him to protect and support and comfort him, that his son chooses to make uninformed judgements and then publicize it in a book that will subsidize his finances.

All of this could have shared in a manner that would have demonstrated more maturity, more sensitivity, and more knowledge and appreciation of what was happening. He reports it as an adolescent would.

[KillgoreTrout43]

Did you read the book?

[hapaglloyd]

I did not agree with over 90% of Mr Buckley's views ,but he was a true conservative,these people nowadays are not conservatives, I dont know what they are. I remember the debate on PBS with Mr Buckley and Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver--very spirted debate. This was back in the 1970s.

[norkas]

Buckley will be missed by so many people from the Democtatic party and Republican.

He was normal , steady and educated on any of the topics he discussed.

We will miss Buckley. He defined the Republican party with his passion and knowledge of consertives.

Today Saeah Palin, Jindal, Beckman, and others are the spokes people for the party .

[alabaman]

Bill Buckley was the last of his breed: a conservative with class. He often sparred with liberal economist John Kenneth Galbraith, but they skied together in Switzerland, and Buckley dedicated one of his books to one of Galbraith's children who died at birth. He was a skilled and relentless polemicist, but never rancorous or bittter or personal. The O'Reilly's and Hannity's of this world show how much conservatism has degenerated. We will not see Buckley's like again.

[bikerdude]

The result of the article left me thinking that Buckley senior was a pretty great man and junior, not so much.

[Meah]

His son quit his job because of his principles. A very lucrative job. You don't know much about the son at all.

[ebanks84]

From what I have read here, it seems there is a slight controversy as to "taking a life". Some feel it is an individual's choice. Those who speak for religion feel it is not. Those who are comparing abortion to taking your own life are questioning the difference. These are all questions that makes a good debate but any debate would result in personal opinions only. Since there are no laws preventing either decision, I think it should be totally an individual concern and nobody else's business. What I do with my life (which includes my body), is my decision only and I'm the one who will suffer the consequences of my actions. So, if you don't want other people involved in your decisions, don't tell anybody what you are going to do. That's it in a nutshell. What people don't know can't hurt them.

[Knowbetter]

I never agreed with Buckley on much of anything, but always had a great respect for his intellect. He also showed an ability to grow and actually CHANGE HIS MIND based upon real-life experiences.

Plus, you gotta love a guy who always slouched in his chair on TV.

[DaveVDave]

Sad indeed. Buckley RIP.

http://www.TheCommentDepot.com

[skene]

I miss Buckley and the civil discourse which typified many of the media presentations of his time.
Today, we have mostly "journalists" and "entertainers" who manage to transform civil discourse
into something akin to the puerile banter of the pizza workers who recently made the "news".

[Erdgeist]

William F. Buckley, to my mind, was always an exemplary pseudo-intellectual - the best the Right had.

[KillgoreTrout43]

He was an intellectual. Nothing psuedo about it.

[GeoLee]

Let me get this straight...two priests saysa choice that resulted in killing himself would have been forgivable, but a woman's choice to have an abortion is not. either way it is the taking of a life.

[SteveStephens]

the diffence is the kid has no choice in your equation.

[lynnn]

Ah but when the kid dies from not having health insurance, that's totally okay. Please, don't be pro birth. Be PRO LIFE.

That means you have to be PRO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, PRO HEALTHCARE, ANTI BIGOTRY.

Care about kids, don't just give it lip service. I've seen pro "choice" people spit on kids, I kid you not, I've seen them discriminate, call little kids names. I've heard them rail against head start and childhood meal plans at schools.

I may not agree w/most of the Catholic church, but I will give it to them that they seem to at least say they care about kids healthcare (they supported SCHIP), and education.

[Tracy Hale]

Religion NOT making sense.....­Really?...­.{{{shocke­r}}}

[ebanks84]

Good point! Would love to hear the answer to that question from the two priests.

[Hirnlego]

Shop around I say. Look around 'till you find the priest which you agree it.

[weatherwaxx]

Don't like abortion, sunshine? Don't get a woman pregnant unless you're willing to raise the kid by yourself - that's what happens to most single mothers.

Condoms are good. Vasectomy is better.

[gugg15]

Neither is good. Sex is for marriage, and artificial birth control like condoms and vasectomies are wrong. Use natural family planning if you're trying to get pregnant or for some serious reason you need to postpone pregnancy.

[gugg15]

Those priests are wrong, suicide is a sin against the 5th commandment, thou shalt not kill. It can therefore be a mortal sin, and thus a person can lose his soul. How sad that some people go to such lengths to end a painful life only to be met with eternal punishment! Those priests will have a lot of 'splainin to do when they meet God face to face.

[countfloyd]

His last interview on Charlie Rose, Buckley pretty much came out and said he was dying and that he didn't care to live on. It was Charlie at his best and remarkable TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=570gr40wgVc

[probo]

I actually learned a lot from Mr. Buckley , while I grew in dissagreement, he was a true gentleman and I was naive enough to believe that all conservatives were also, sadly, I was wrong.

[MajorKong]

He has an uncanny resemblance to his father.

[yosoyeldecider]

I didn't hold much love for Buckley. But compared to the current crop of shouting idiots, he was a gentleman's gentleman, a scholar's scholar, and nearly a saint.

[zukervati]

I would agree with you completely. I didn't agree with his political slant, but his dialog with the opposition was always civil and in some cases almost calming. The saddest truth is that the party and the platform he supported ousted his son and demonizes Buckley's values.

[avraamjack]

Indeed.

Watching the country devolve at the end of his time must have been terrible.
.

[andyg]

His son ousted himself, when he turned his back of his fathers values.

[reverendswann]

I never agreed with W.F. Buckley Sr. but he always gave something to think about. He was never disingenuous, crass, or oblivious. I can't say that about the current crop of conservative opinion-makers. I'm sad to hear he suffered so much that he considered suicide, and I hope he had a peaceful death.

[swift goat pet for truth]

I don't agree much with him, but I am very sorry to hear he suffered so much at the end of his life.

[nana4g]

Emphysema is a difficult dying and death. All the pills you need while still alert and trying to breathe are perfectly fine. There is no issue of addiction or too many or anything else. They serve a medical purpose. No one wants to suffocate to death. They sedate but they also assist with breathing. And Morphine at dying does not "put you to sleep"; it helps you breathe and helps you to be comfortable.