I saw this morning the news of William F. Buckley’s death and it didn’t seem real. His accomplishments are immeasurable. George Will once said, “Before there was Ronald Reagan there was Barry Goldwater, before there was Goldwater there was National Review, and before there was National Review there was William F. Buckley”.
His passing brings some issues to light that we deal with today. , National Review did not endorse a candidate for president in 1956, correctly concluding that Dwight Eisenhower was not a conservative, however great a military leader that he was. Nor would National Review endorse liberal Republican Richard Nixon. In 1964 NR was able to finally support a candidate for president,Barry Goldwater, though he had no chance of winning. But this candidacy did lay the groundwork for Reagan to propel the conservative movement into the White House. Buckley was quoted once referring to Reagan’s intelligence saying, “Of course, he will always tend to reach first for an anecdote. But then, so does the New Testament.”
He also showed that it was acceptable to vote for someone who wasn’t a Republican… even a Democrat. With liberal Republicans still elected afterReagan, Buckley used Hillary’s “kitchen sink?” idea before she even thought of it against liberal Republican Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. Buckley started a PAC to support Lieberman, explaining, “We want to pass the word that it’s OK to vote for the other guy or stay at home.”
Some of my favorite WFB quotes….
“I would rather be governed by the first 400 names in the Boston phone book than by the 400 members of the faculty of Harvard University.”
“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.”
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
“The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects. If you never do — you’ve simply abdicated the responsibility to think.”
… and my favorite:
When asked if he had “referred to Jesse Jackson as an ignoramus,” Buckley said, “If I didn’t, I should have.”
RIP WFB
1 Comment
February 28, 2008 at 6:53 pm
My favorite quote from him
“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.”
And the choir said amen