Changes

===Opposition to the Republican Establishment===

===Opposition to the Republican Establishment===

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>

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">[https://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.

==Death and legacy==

==Death and legacy==

Buckley died of a [[heart attack]] in 2008, he was 82.<ref>[http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-buckley28feb28-story.html William F. Buckley Jr., 82; author and founder of modern conservative movement]</ref>

Buckley died of a [[heart attack]] in 2008, he was 82.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-buckley28feb28-story.html William F. Buckley Jr., 82; author and founder of modern conservative movement]</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>

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>[https://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>[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.

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.

== External links ==

== External links ==

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

*[https://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

*[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

*[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]

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

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

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