Bill Buckley

Bill Buckley died Wednesday at 82 at his home in Connecticut. He was the most influential public intellectual of his generation in this country, maybe the world.

More than anyone, even Goldwater or Reagan, he was the father of modern conservatism, which was as much an intellectual as a political movement from 1955, when he founded the National Review, to 2000 when, under Bush and DeLay, the movement foundered in a sea of law breaking, war mongering and greed.

I got to know Buckley a little in the 1990s, debating him on his show, Firing Line. The show, the longest running with a single host in TV history, was civil, substantive and high minded; in short, the opposite of everything political talk shows have since become.

Off camera he was witty and articulate and also gracious and warm. A couple of years after the show went off the air I was running for Governor of Connecticut and bumped into him. He put his hand gently on my arm and said, softly, "I will vote against you with the deepest affection."

Buckley evolved over time from one who insisted the constitution forbade us from ending segregation, to one who supported civil rights laws and a national holiday for Martin Luther King.
But the underlying tenets of his thought, grounded in his Roman Catholicism and equally fervent beliefs in free republics and free markets, remained consistent.

It didn't always keep him close to the leaders of his party or of the movement he had led. On the National Review website, Buckley identified himself as a "libertarian conservative," a designation that separated him, ever so slightly, from the excesses of his crowd.

He saw Viet Nam as a mistake and parted company with Bush over Iraq. He sailed to international waters to try marijuana before calling for legalization. His lovely book Nearer My God reveals a real spirituality, as opposed to the hateful, hypocritical swill peddled as religion by his party. Sam Tanenhaus, author of a much anticipated biography, says Buckley couldn't bear Ann Coulter.

I first met Buckley a decade before our Firing Line encounters at a reception for an ailing Mike Harrington, socialist and author of 'The Other America.' Harrington truly regarded Buckley as a friend. So did John Kenneth Galbraith. So did most liberals Buckley knew.

Buckley loved debate. Unlike today's cowardly conservatives, he debated the best minds he could entice on to a stage. He never used his opponents as props or punch lines for fixed fights. He liked them. Loving his own ideas, not just hating theirs, left room for liking them.

What a long sad fall from Bill Buckley to Bill O' Reilly. I'm not part of the crowd that says if we can just get along everything will be alright. But I am part of the crowd that thinks learning to get along better will help.

To get out of Iraq or into a new health care system will require some hard fighting, but also some hard thinking and most of all reasoned arguments to persuade, if not the opposition, certainly the public.

If you want to see how far we are from having that kind of debate, watch an old episode of Firing Line and then watch a random hour of live cable television. That's how far.

Bill Buckley raised an army against a liberal establishment. Like Barry Goldwater, he often dissented in later years from a conservative establishment he helped create.

The political debate Buckley launched is over, many of its old categories defunct. To shape a new debate we'll need at least a few people with the intellect, humanity, civility and great good humor of Bill Buckley. I hope we find them.

Comments

[larry278]

I realize it may be trite but William Buckley lived & died as a worthy adversary. It would dishonor the memory of W F Buckley to analyze & compare neo-cons now in the public eye with the late Mr Buckley. One may not dishonor the memory of a worthy adversary for doing so would harm one's sense of serenity. To continue being trite-dishonoring the memory of a worthy adversary is among the unwritten list of things which aren't done in a civil society.

[vflog]

In Peace, from marijuana activists around the world.
We will continue on.

[vls]

Thank you. So true.

[realistic2008]

Without any reservation your piece accurately reflects the grandeur of this gentleman who will be remembered and missed more than ever. He was an intellectual giant who gently but firmly will make think and listen

[Purple Girl]

There is no doubt in my mind there is common ground between "ol School Dems ' and Ol' School republicans- the last 35 yrs has been Ruled andRegulated by the Corporationist. They hate the Free market and Freedom for the masses. It has a detrimental effect on their bottom line.Dare i say, life long atheist Liberal Dem... I've caught myself agreeing with Pat Robertson on more than one occasion??? I think those Ol' Hippies, Yuppies came in a ate the Ol Boys of the Republican party's lunch. They taught them the dirty tricks (which they became more innovative with), but forgot to at least teach them some shred of Allegeince to their own Country, The Great Democratic Expereiment was always meant to be validated. the Boomers were the first children to rule the roost and over indulged. I too realize my lack of 'Greatest Generation' Status. US Late Bloomer Boomers were complacant . "Dude when the Boomers get in everything is going to change' no shit, hear that 'Sucking Noise'
At 44 it's about time I wake up and pay attention, I have a 24 yr old's future, I must seek justice for them. US late Bloomer Boomers will have to carry the water for the indulgences and excessive of our older 'Siblings' . We will not Retire, because We will not have the opportunity financial nor Communally. Whos' going to have to help the smaller later generations to support this huge and long lived generation of the 'Boomers"? US younger tail end 'boomers'.­Suck It Up everyone- the Dream Is Over. We will ultimately die of cancer because we allowed so much smoke to be blown up our asses all these years, especially the last 35! Now, Green Peace, ACLU ....what have you done - nothing. Women still only make on average $0.77 to a mans $ 1.00, Rampant Global Warming, and our Constitution Sold to Corporate Multi Nationals and their sponsoring Countries.
I'd like to discuss the US economy with an Ol School Republican, I'm into the Free Market, just not Privatization of Essential Services to the Citizens, thus labor , thus GNP. Things never allowed to be Profit Drive and Traded on any Stock exchange are Food, Water, Housing, Education, Natural Resources, Health care, Defense ...essenti­al Government Responsiblities to it's citizens.
Make a killing off I Phones, or 360 games...ju­st not off the God or Natures gifts given to all of Us to share for our mutal existence. At the Very least we must stop betting on 'Futures', we are only enslaving our decedants further.

[MTiffany]

And what exactly does the above incoherent rant have to do with Bill Buckley? Nothing — that's what. Flagged as abusive for being completely unrelated to the article which it is supposedly commenting upon.

Note to crazy people: if you need to rant, get a blog. They're free.

[daddysboy]

The movement you are attributing to him is what is wrong with America. I know I am supposed to think this is ironic and bless his recently departed soul, but I can't help think about 50 years of good people struggling against these bad ideals and for what? Libertarians maintain a continual cynical distrust of government and only desire to dismantle it which unfortunately means that the most tenuously included budget items are the first to go (healthcare, education, etc.).

[hontonoshijin]

" . . . we'll need at least a few people with . . . intellect, humanity . . . and great good humor . . ."

They're there, and more than a few, but nobody is looking.

[daddysboy]

The fascists own the airwaves. The last thing they want is enlightenment. More cars and hormone hamburgers please.

[davy]

I never thought about it till you mentioned it. EXACTLY !! a perfect example of how far we have fallen. O'Riley or Buckley ??? How on earth have we got to this state????

[Dajo]

Bill Curry reported RE: Bill Buckley,

"""He saw Viet Nam as a mistake and parted company with Bush over Iraq. He sailed to international waters to try marijuana before calling for legalization. His lovely book Nearer My God reveals a real spirituality, as opposed to the hateful, hypocritical swill peddled as religion by his party. Sam Tanenhaus, author of a much anticipated biography, says Buckley couldn't bear Ann Coulter. """

I hate every thing that Buckley stood for, Capitalism­,Libritari­an Drug Use, Snobbery, etc. That being said ,I hate him a little less now that I know that he couldn't bear Ann Coulter.

[Miguel]

I see a bit less smarminess than is usual on this site, largely because of William H. Buckley's unassailable intellectual credentials. Still, many commentors bemusedly seem to believe they are anointed smarter and better even than Buckley himself. Mr. Curry fell in line with the pervasive double standard ubiquitously employed by the so-called intellectual elitists when he compared Mr. Buckley to present day talk radio. In this, he wholesale ignores the cacophony of violations on a Herculean scale practiced throughout the Universities and other areas held under their hegenomy; complete with their brand of hate speech and thought police. Universally, Mr. Curry and co. have violated all that is historically sactified re: Diversity of Ideas, Freedom of Thought and Respect for Ideas; then darkly project onto conservatives their own considerable level of intoleance.

[lemuel]

Compared to the louts-- Rush, Hannity and O"Reilly-- WFB was a gentleman, scholar and the soul of wit. But he paved the way for the mean-spirited incivility of those loud- mouthed bullies. In the fifties he blasted Yale professors not for their scholarship or teaching, but because they were insufficiently devout and because they did not share his political views. And what views they were. He was an arch-red baiter and defender of the black list and Joe McCarthy even whil acknowledging that McCarthy slandered and ruined innocent people. He praised Nixon for indulging in the same fear mongering, becoming critical only after Nixon moved toward detente with Russia and China. A prime spoken for the party of Lincoln, he denounced the civil rights movement. A defender of the faith, he dismissed John the XXIII's encyclical on welfare _Mater et Magistra_ as a "venture in triviality" while calling for an end for social security. He played on the fears of Americans to promote nuclear testing and massive arms development. American Roman Catholicism and American conservatism did not have to follow such a course but it did.Thanks to WFB.

[Ranta]

I stopped reading Buckley back in the early 70's. His ponderous 70 word sentences seemed to give the impression that he was "so smart". (George Will, in much the same way, seems to sit around with a thesaurus doctoring up his columns).
I mentioned these observations to an English teacher at one time. She said that the goal of good writing is to be understood, not to impress.

I did check on some of Buckley's more recent works and he has made good progress. He's down to no more than 50 words at a time. As for Will, I'm afraid there's no hope.

[Scipio]

Although I lamented Buckley's conservatism and religious beliefs, I think the man mellowed somewhat in later years, and he arrived at certain positions that seemed downright liberal until you seriously thought about them, e.g. his belief that illegal recreational drugs should at least be decriminalized (e.g. the cost of keeping 1 out of every 100 Americans in our prisons), and perhaps legalized (no more money wasted on the silly "war on drugs" -- with customs officers in effect capitulating by saying they get only 10% of what crosses the borders). I also loved his effete mannerisms and the way he had half of the news and political pundits in America holding their pencils and pens between the webs of their fingers as they gestured to emphasize a point. I'll never forget his Great Debate with Gore Vidal in a convention booth, one calling the other a "crypto-fascist"; the other saying "I'll slug you and you'll stay plastered," as if he got his dialogue from some B-movie film noir starring William Bendix. Yeah, as much as I disliked Buckley's politics and his mindless Papism, I'll miss his silver spoon accent and fey manner. He was fun.

[jackjava]

Buckley was a pompous intellectual. Born with a silver spoon and he parlayed that into a Yale degree and some nothworthy noteriety with some of his writings. He laid the ground work for guys at Fox who pretended to be Buckley conservatives, but really are a bunch of angry chimpanzees taking orders from an overweight, disgusting man called Roger.

Constant nagging and negative bashing is what 3/4 of their programming consists of. The country is growing tired of it and it's ratings are slipping while MSNBC's are going up.

Buckley's verbose and sometime unintelligable opinions were thought provoking at times, but all tied back to the rigid conservative movement that is falling in tatters. He did not respect Fox News and did not consider any ofb them journalists.

[hansens2]

He wrote last year of his change of heart on tobacco (an industry that avidly funds opinion-for-hire groups and politicians of his self-described "libertari­an/conserv­ative" ilk) saying that if he was asked in a confessional if he would ban tobacco,he would say "yes".
His agony with emphysema no doubt was central to this change,but so also was the realization that ones smoke may destroy others health. Free markets and tobacco, as we now know,do not mix,and tobacco reform will be the most cost-saving public health measure according to CDC,WHO,AM­A,ACS,ALA,­AHA. I'm one doc who can't wait for Buckley's conversion to affect all those congressional bribe-takers who keep the poisonous tobacco barons alive.

[yellowdoggie]

I avidly watched the '68 presidential conventions on television (black and white, doncha know) when I was in high school and absolutely fell in love with Bill Buckley. I bought his books. I became a Young Republican in college. I voted for Nixon. (Yes, I know, andI've done my penance.) Anyway, if all conservatives were as erudite and likeable as William F. Buckley, who knows? My screen name might not be Yellowdoggie today. I am sorry for his passing, but perhaps he and other conservative men of conscience and conviction like Goldwater and--well, there has to be more than one, doesn't there?--will haunt the likes of G.W. Bush and his ilk. Rest in peace, my honorable enemy.

[AnneJ]

Sorry, but not half the intellect or writer that Gore Vidal was (is). History will remember Buckley as the founder of a movement which has been driven exclusively by the desire to concentrate power and wealth among the very few. I hope he said a good Catholic confession before his head hit that desk. RIP