William F. Buckley Jr.: A Fond and Sad Farewell

Conservative intellectual icon William F. Buckley, Jr. died today while working at his office at his home. He was 82 years old.

Words cannot even begin to convey the impact Buckley had on the political process and the wide influence he had on America.

I have often said that if the conservative movement gained its greatest political triumph with Ronald Reagan, it was William F. Buckley, Jr. who gave the movement its intellectual foundation. And, it was Buckley who was the movement's most feared and most ardent defender against liberal attacks.

Buckley's power was with words alone rather than vitriol. His rise to fame came at a time when political debate was more focused on ideas, concepts, and the power of rhetorical acumen than the shouting contests to which we have all become accustomed.

Yet it was a big mistake to equate his gentlemanly demeanor with weakness. He was known to quickly dismantle his opponents' entire premise with wit, humor, sarcasm, and pure intellectual prowess. Nonetheless, he was largely respected by people of all political persuasions simply because they knew he was the real deal and had the intellectual authority to back up his arguments with facts and sheer logic.

When Buckley first burst onto the scene in the early 1950s with his classic book, 'God and Man at Yale,' he found himself the target of the intellectual elite at his Alma mater, who attempted to portray the young Buckley as a snarky upstart with no gravitas to be taken seriously.

Buckley, however, proved to be anything but an 'angry young man.' To be sure, he had a bone to pick with Yale and its liberal bias, including its tendency to hold up to ridicule all things religious despite its history as a religiously-oriented school. But Buckley set out to tackle Yale not with rage or vengeance but with ideas, all neatly and impressively expressed through the power of words and a manner of putting those words together in such a way as to maximize impact.

The mere fact that the Yale establishment felt it necessary to attack one of its own stellar graduates so vehemently is ample proof of Buckley's impact. They feared his influence, and indeed, he set the intellectual elite spinning on their heels as they circled the wagons.

Buckley capitalized on his new-found fame by launching what became the longest running TV program in television history in 1955--The Firing Line. The program was the perfect vehicle by which Buckley's powerful rhetorical skills could be placed on display to a national audience.

The Firing Line exhibited Buckley's famed skill as a debater. His guests included persons from across the political spectrum, many of whom would serve as Buckley's debate opponents on the program.

At times there was no formal debate format, but an informal exchange of ideas and ideology as Buckley and his guest sat comfortably facing each other at an angle. Even then, Buckley would deliver his famous good-humored barbs that his guests would have to endure.

On one show during the 1980s one such exchange occurred when a liberal was defending a certain politician for having a picture of Lenin hanging in his office. Buckley, of course, was horrified. The liberal, attempting to defend the display, stated, 'Oh, Bill, you know as well as I do that having such a picture proves nothing. I mean, even I probably have a picture of Lenin somewhere in my office.'

To which Buckley quickly replied, 'And you act like it.'

The Firing Line continued as a staple of PBS programming for over 30 years.

By the late 1950s Buckley had reached a level of fame not known to a conservative since the days of President Calvin Coolidge. He wrote another book, which became a classic in American political literature entitled, 'Up From Liberalism,' in which he postulated that liberalism as a political ideology appealed to the absolute lowest of human motivators, and that only a conservatism based upon the liberties delineated in the Constitution could provide the impetus for Americans to truly rise to their highest potential.

During this same period Buckley launched his magazine, 'National Review,' which for over 50 years has contained some of the most in-depth and thoroughly researched articles and commentary on the American political process.

It was Buckley through the National Review who first began to push the idea that former actor Ronald Reagan would be the ultimate great communicator for the conservative movement in the political arena, meaning of course, that the goal was to eventually elect Reagan to the Presidency.

When asked in an interview a year or so ago about the Reagan triumph during the 1980s, Buckley said merely, 'Finally, we won.'

I can say with pride that I served on the Buckley-Reagan team back in the early to late 1970s in an organization that Buckley founded called, 'Young Americans for Freedom.' This organization was nationwide but was focused on spreading the conservative message on college campuses...and to elect Ronald Reagan to the Presidency.

In later years Buckley continued to write articles for National Review, his syndicated newspaper column, and other publications, in addition to writing his popular spy novels and appearing in debates across the country.

The final few years of his life were not kind to Buckley in terms of health issues, however. He suffered from emphysema and sometimes exhibited the depression and despair that sometimes accompanies such devastating chronic illnesses. He even stated in an interview a while back that he wanted to die. As a man of deep faith--he was a devout Roman Catholic--Buckley felt that the afterlife would be a great relief to him.

Yet his still managed to treat us to a bit of the famous Buckley humor. He said that his doctor had placed him on an exercise regimen and that he hated exercise. Better to die than to be forced to exercise every day for the rest of your life.

Of course, this came from a man of 82 years after having lived one extraordinary life.

Ronald Reagan once said that Buckley was 'the most influential thinker and political commentator in modern times.'

And that one extraordinary life may well have saved our Republic.

Godspeed, Mr. Buckley, and thank-you.