Changes

Buckley's political views did not represent the future of the conservative movement as much as its past, and he did not speak out enough about the big social issues that would dominate the future of politics.  For example, he was mostly silent about [[ERA]], the defining issue for the modern conservative movement.  Also, Buckley was a [[globalist]], contrary to modern conservatives.  For example, Buckley supported [[NAFTA]] and giving away the [[Panama Canal]], despite its strategic significance and how the [[United States]] had built and paid for it.  Buckley also favored legalizing [[marijuana]].

Buckley's political views did not represent the future of the conservative movement as much as its past, and he did not speak out enough about the big social issues that would dominate the future of politics.  For example, he was mostly silent about [[ERA]], the defining issue for the modern conservative movement.  Also, Buckley was a [[globalist]], contrary to modern conservatives.  For example, Buckley supported [[NAFTA]] and giving away the [[Panama Canal]], despite its strategic significance and how the [[United States]] had built and paid for it.  Buckley also favored legalizing [[marijuana]].

Buckley was against [[collectivism]], as he summed up in his book "Up From Liberalism" (1959):<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/joe-scarborough/2013/08/conservatism-defined-170716.html</ref>

Buckley was against [[collectivism]], as he summed up in his book "Up From Liberalism" (1959):<ref>https://www.politico.com/blogs/joe-scarborough/2013/08/conservatism-defined-170716.html</ref>

{{cquote|I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and Liberals at bay. And the nation free.}}

{{cquote|I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and Liberals at bay. And the nation free.}}

Son of an oilman who made a fortune in Mexico, Buckley was educated in an English preparatory school as a teenager. He studied Spanish in [[Mexico City]] (1943, UNAM) (Buckley's first language had been Spanish, having been raised by Mexican nannies).

Son of an oilman who made a fortune in Mexico, Buckley was educated in an English preparatory school as a teenager. He studied Spanish in [[Mexico City]] (1943, UNAM) (Buckley's first language had been Spanish, having been raised by Mexican nannies).

Prior to the outbreak of [[World War II]], future historian Alistair Horne became an evacuee, and grew up together with Buckley.  They were lifelong friends.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/11/books/the-only-childhood-i-ever-had.html?pagewanted=all 'The Only Childhood I Ever Had'], [[The New York Times]]</ref>

Prior to the outbreak of [[World War II]], future historian Alistair Horne became an evacuee, and grew up together with Buckley.  They were lifelong friends.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/11/books/the-only-childhood-i-ever-had.html?pagewanted=all 'The Only Childhood I Ever Had'], [[The New York Times]]</ref>

Buckley graduated from the Millbrook School in New York in 1943, and from Yale College in 1950.

Buckley graduated from the Millbrook School in New York in 1943, and from Yale College in 1950.

Historian [[George H. Nash]] wrote of him that ''William F. Buckley Jr. was arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century. For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure. He changed minds, he changed lives, and he helped to change the direction of American politics.''<ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/223788/simply-superlative-george-h-nash Simply Superlative]</ref>

Historian [[George H. Nash]] wrote of him that ''William F. Buckley Jr. was arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century. For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure. He changed minds, he changed lives, and he helped to change the direction of American politics.''<ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/223788/simply-superlative-george-h-nash Simply Superlative]</ref>

Shortly after Buckley's passing, Establishment Republicans began their attempts to co-opt the Buckley legacy by various means, most notably the ill-named "[[Buckley rule]]".  Members of the Establishment have conducted similar activity with former President Reagan as well.  Likewise, progressives have engaged in their own efforts to re-invent history, proclaiming how much they miss well-reasoned Buckley,<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/opinion/where-have-you-gone-bill-buckley.html Where Have You Gone, Bill Buckley?]</ref> even though they engaged in efforts at the time to smear him as a Nazi<ref>[http://livinginphilistia.blogspot.com/2015/02/william-f-buckley-was-nazi.html William F Buckley was a Nazi!]</ref> and things no different than what you can hear in the news this very week.

Shortly after Buckley's passing, Establishment Republicans began their attempts to co-opt the Buckley legacy by various means, most notably the ill-named "[[Buckley rule]]".  Members of the Establishment have conducted similar activity with former President Reagan as well.  Likewise, progressives have engaged in their own efforts to re-invent history, proclaiming how much they miss well-reasoned Buckley,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/opinion/where-have-you-gone-bill-buckley.html Where Have You Gone, Bill Buckley?]</ref> even though they engaged in efforts at the time to smear him as a Nazi<ref>[http://livinginphilistia.blogspot.com/2015/02/william-f-buckley-was-nazi.html William F Buckley was a Nazi!]</ref> and things no different than what you can hear in the news this very week.

==Quotes==

==Quotes==

*[http://www.nationalreview.com/ National Review Online]

*[http://www.nationalreview.com/ National Review Online]

*[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23507 William F. Buckley Jr. on Conservatism: An Interview] Bill Steigerwald, [[Human Events]], 11/19/2007

*[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23507 William F. Buckley Jr. on Conservatism: An Interview] Bill Steigerwald, [[Human Events]], 11/19/2007

*[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/business/media/27cnd-buckley.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82], [[New York Times]], 2/27/2008

*[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/business/media/27cnd-buckley.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82], [[New York Times]], 2/27/2008

*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87235288 Father of Conservative Movement Dies]

*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87235288 Father of Conservative Movement Dies]

*[http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/12/william-f-buckley-jr-conservative-icon Biography] by Lee Edwards, Ph.D.

*[http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/12/william-f-buckley-jr-conservative-icon Biography] by Lee Edwards, Ph.D.