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[[Image:6436rtdhgf.jpg|right|thumb|William F. Buckley, Jr., on his long-running television show [[Firing Line]].]]

[[Image:6436rtdhgf.jpg|right|thumb|William F. Buckley, Jr., on his long-running television show [[Firing Line]].]]

'''William Frank Buckley Jr.''' ([[New York City]], November 24, 1925 - Stamford, February 27, 2008) was born in a devoutly [[Roman Catholic]] family. Buckley was a prominent [[conservative]] author and commentator, and the founder of the [[National Review]]. He was also host of [[Firing Line]], a talk show featured for years on the otherwise [[liberal]] public television channel [[PBS]].  He was admired on both sides of the political spectrum for his seemingly limitless vocabulary, and his intellectual wit.   

'''William Frank Buckley Jr.''' ([[New York City]], November 24, 1925 - Stamford, February 27, 2008) was a prominent [[conservative]] -- but [[globalist]] -- author and commentator during the [[Cold War]].  He is best known for founding the [[National Review]]. He also hosted [[Firing Line]], a talk show featured for years on the otherwise [[liberal]] public television channel [[PBS]].  Buckley was admired on both sides of the political spectrum for his seemingly limitless vocabulary, and his intellectual wit.  But he was not a [[grassroots]] activist, and no outstanding political achievements.

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]].

==Early life==

==Early life==

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).

Buckley was born to a devoutly [[Roman Catholic]] family. The 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>[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>

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>

==Career==

==Career==

His first book exposed the failures of Yale College, "God and Man at Yale" (1951).  It detailed what he saw as the collectivist and anti-Christian leanings of America's foremost school.  

His first book was a very successful expose the [[liberal]] failures of Yale College, "God and Man at Yale" (1951).  It detailed what he saw as the collectivist and anti-Christian leanings of one of [[America]]'s foremost universities.  

In 1955 Buckley founded ''The National Review'' (NR), a biweekly magazine of political opinion. [[Ronald Reagan]] was a longtime subscriber to National Review. Through the magazine he fostered the idea of a conservative movement.   

In 1955 Buckley founded ''The National Review'' (NR), a biweekly magazine of political opinion. [[Ronald Reagan]] was a longtime subscriber to National Review. Through the magazine he fostered the idea of a conservative movement.   

===Opposition to the Republican Establishment===

===Opposition to the Republican Establishment===

Buckley founded National Review in an atmosphere where RINOs ran the show.  In the 1955 Mission Statement for NR, he lamented the "well-fed right" (who at that time was a combination of Eisenhower Republicans and Rockefeller Republicans) for their smears and mistreatment of rock-ribbed, future Reaganite and Tea Party conservatives.<ref name="mission">[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/223549/our-mission-statement-william-f-buckley-jr Our Mission Statement], by William F. Buckley</ref>  To be a conservative meant to be a "non-licenced nonconformist" in an atmosphere dominated by conformist RINOs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=etQ6AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945]</ref>  At the time of its founding, National Review was not popular among liberal republicans, notably Allen Tate, mainly because of the magazine's strong support of [[Joe McCarthy]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=I03qCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT142 The Rebuke of History: The Southern Agrarians and American Conservative Thought]</ref> and Peter Viereck<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pQMAsT7HlEsC&pg=PA168 Why Americans Hate Politics]</ref>

Buckley founded National Review in an atmosphere where [[RINO]]s ran the show.  In the 1955 Mission Statement for NR, he lamented the "well-fed right" (who at that time was a combination of Eisenhower Republicans and Rockefeller Republicans) for their smears and mistreatment of rock-ribbed, future Reaganite and Tea Party conservatives.<ref name="mission">[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/223549/our-mission-statement-william-f-buckley-jr Our Mission Statement], by William F. Buckley</ref>  To be a conservative meant to be a "non-licenced nonconformist" in an atmosphere dominated by conformist RINOs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=etQ6AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945]</ref>  At the time of its founding, National Review was not popular among liberal republicans, notably Allen Tate, mainly because of the magazine's strong support of [[Joe McCarthy]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=I03qCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT142 The Rebuke of History: The Southern Agrarians and American Conservative Thought]</ref> and Peter Viereck<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pQMAsT7HlEsC&pg=PA168 Why Americans Hate Politics]</ref>

Within a decade of the magazine's founding, the GOP would nominate a candidate strongly opposed by members of the Rockefeller wing of the party, [[Barry Goldwater]].<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/obit/2008/02/william_f_buckley_rip.html William F. Buckley, RIP]</ref>  Again, in 1980 [[Ronald Reagan]] was nominated to the consternation of Establishment Republicans wherever they could be found.

Within a decade of the magazine's founding, the GOP would nominate a candidate strongly opposed by members of the Rockefeller wing of the party, [[Barry Goldwater]].<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/obit/2008/02/william_f_buckley_rip.html William F. Buckley, RIP]</ref>  Again, in 1980 [[Ronald Reagan]] was nominated to the consternation of Establishment Republicans wherever they could be found.