February 27, 2008

William F. Buckley Jr. Dies at 82

William F. Buckley Jr., a major force in shaping modern American conservatism and a spirited critic of academic culture, died today at his home, at the age of 82.

Mr. Buckley’s 1951 book, God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom,” famously condemned his alma mater for abandoning free-market and religious orthodoxies. Despite their self-proclaimed intellectual tolerance, he argued, Yale’s professors actually operated within a narrow range of liberal conventions. He called on his fellow Yale alumni to agitate for a return to the university’s core principles, which (in his account) were Christian and individualist. And he defended Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s efforts to purge Communists and other leftists from government jobs and academic positions.

The university did not respond warmly to the book. In the introduction to a 25th-anniversary edition, Mr. Buckley recalled warning Yale’s president at the time, A. Whitney Griswold, about the impending publication:

A week or so later, I had a telephone call from an elderly tycoon with a huge opinion of himself…. He advised me that he knew about the manuscript and had splendid tidings for me: namely, that I could safely withdraw the book because he … had got the private assurance of President Griswold that great reforms at Yale were underway and that conservative principles were in the ascendancy, so why bother to publish a book that would merely stir things up? … I was not yet as conversant as I would quickly become with the ease with which rich and vain men are manipulated by skillful educators.

God and Man at Yale brought Mr. Buckley fame at the age of 26 and set a template for many subsequent right-wing critiques of academe, including Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind (1987) and Ross Douthat’s Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class (2005).

Mr. Buckley’s long career included the creation of National Review, in 1955; many years as host of the talk show Firing Line; and dozens of books, including 11 spy novels.

In 1997, The Chronicle looked at Mr. Buckley’s support for Yale University Press’s Annals of Communism series. In a Chronicle essay in 2006, Mark Bauerlein echoed the complaints in God and Man at Yale about the status of conservatism in academe. And last year, we looked at the history of conservative campus activism since Mr. Buckley’s days at Yale. —David Glenn

(Video: Mr. Buckley debating U.S. foreign policy with Noam Chomsky on Firing Line in 1969.)

Comments

1. Although I am a socialist and, consequently, far to the left of Buckley, I have always respected him for his intelligence. When one looks at so-called conservatives today (such as our abysmally ignorant “president”), it is easy to wax nostalgic for the likes of William Buckley.

   — Donald Winters    Feb 27, 02:30 PM    #

2. William Buckley was certainly an icon. During my college days, sometimes I laughed at his conservative commentaries, and sometimes I rolled my eyes; but I always respected his intellectual prowess. No one on the current “news” sleuth shows even touches Buckley. I switch channels to get away from Nancy Grace, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly. Buckley was a scholar and a gentleman.

   — Lowly Adjunct    Feb 27, 03:51 PM    #

3. Ditto – and Amen!

   — TDD    Feb 27, 03:56 PM    #

4. God Bless Bill Buckley. The clip above reminds us of how insufferable and humorless Noam Chomsky still is. At least WFB was always a good sport.

   — Vincent    Feb 27, 04:28 PM    #

5. He was the Gore Vidal of the Right. He was a true intellecual. NO ONE in the media today—-right, left, up, down—hold a candle to his erudition, thoughtfulness, writing style, and willingness to debate. Coulter; Michael Moore; Maureen Dowd—not fit to carry his briefcase.

   And I disagreed with just about everything he said.

   — History Professor    Feb 27, 04:32 PM    #

6. Bill Buckley had a facilty with words and a comprehensive grasp of issues that is duplicated by very few people. In spite of his strong conservative bent, he could put issues into focus in a great way. We should help educate a new generation to be as articulate.

   — Jim Seeber    Feb 27, 04:46 PM    #

7. I had the singular pleasure of escorting Mr. Buckley as a featured speaker at the Air War College in 1987. A more generous and gracious personality you could not find! He will be sorely missed by both friend and foe.

   — Ray Hamilton, Col., USAF (Ret.)    Feb 27, 05:46 PM    #

8. He was a remarkably generous man. He lectured at my college years ago and, finding out that a student with whom he was arguing didn’t have the books she needed to complete her thesis, he sent her the lot. A remarkablle, generous spirit.

   — Lorraine Shanley    Feb 27, 10:46 PM    #

9. There is no surprise that majority of commentators here are left-wing lunatics… The problem I have with these people is that they have never lived in a socialist country and as history as shown, socialism is failed political system, and still yet they try to defend unrestlessly and arrogantly the very same principles on which these systems operate. I myself have lived in such a country. I have also known people that have lived under the nazis and then under the communists. In their own words, the later is much worse! The crimes and the misery that the leftists in power have brought on their own people have never been disclosed completely. I hope some day they will. Chavez and other luny-leftists leaders in the world proclaim that they are there to protect the interests of the poor and unpriviledged, but none of you cares to respond that why then exactly these category of people in those countries are living in misery?

   — richard    Feb 28, 10:08 AM    #

10. Communism and Nazism are both being consigned to the trashheap of history, the latter by disgust at its outcomes and the former by transformation (and disgust at its outcomes). But concerning Richard’s comment that people who have lived under both systems believe that Communism is much worse: I know a number of Holocaust survivors and children of Holocaust survivors, and can only say that opinions may differ. Stalinism also killed many folks, of course, and any attempt to claim that one of the systems is “much worse” than the other is going to have to be justified to the folks who sat in the concentration camps of the “much better” system or had relatives exterminated by it, and I don’t think that is going to be successful.

    — Bob M.    Feb 28, 10:50 AM    #

11. WFB brought a cool charm and wit to serious socio/political discourse. We may never see his like again.

    — mike    Feb 28, 12:00 PM    #

12. Richard, your remarks are precisely the sort of rant that set WFB in sharp relief to the vapid rabidity you seem to share with Right Wing fanaticism – and to vent it in this context, of all places.

    — Russ Thayer    Feb 28, 01:44 PM    #

13. Quite apart from William F. Buckley’s political writings, his articulate remarks, his wit and humor, I have to add that his spy novels were fabulous. I was stunned to discover that the author of those novels was indeed one and the same William F. Buckley, Jr.

    — RG    Feb 28, 02:22 PM    #

14. He was a joy to watch in action with that wide grin.I disagreed with many of his views, so he taught me how to argue my points and keep the emotions to a minimum. A hard act to follow!

    — Emily Anderson    Feb 28, 04:29 PM    #

15. Mr. Buckley was a joy to listen to on his “Firing Line” shows. What a vocabulary . . . and coming from a silken voice. If a fellow liberal were to point out to me that he’s so right wing, I’d say, “Yes, of course. But just listen to that man speak!” Rest in peace, William. You were an American original.

    — Phil Schwartz    Feb 28, 04:59 PM    #

16. Buckley and the conservative ilk he helped spawn are lightweights to the core; Geo. Will, et al.—not a serious thinker among the whole lot. The oeuvre and life of this supposed “intellectual” basically adds up to a lot of trifles and relentless posturing. Who actually buys any books by Wm. Buckley? (Ideological spy books? Je-sus. Come on.) His is a dubious legacy all around.

    — Titus Orb    Feb 28, 09:56 PM    #

17. Along with his own brilliance and originality he had a great gift for recognizing and helping young talent. For so many years he gave to American public life a sense of culture and intelligence.
    I particularly appreciate his courage in contending with the nut- wing anti- Semetic element of Conservatism. While being a man of deep Catholic religious faith he had an openness to friendship with people from all faiths. He will be sorely missed

    — Shalom Freedman    Feb 29, 01:45 AM    #

18. titus orb— Who buys any books by Wm. Buckley? Evidently, quite a few people (including myself, over the years), judging from the NY Times Best Seller Lists over the years. And by folks of all ideological persuasions besides, I imagine, judging from the comments here and on other forums in reaction to his death. But I suppose they’re “lightweights” too. Your comments at this time seem somewhat off the mark, and crabbed as well.

    — shui khan    Feb 29, 07:13 PM    #

19. I loved to listen to William F. Buckley Jr. speak / talk. The way he used words was truly fascinating! Now, I will have to read some of his books.

    — www.tastethewind.blogspot.com    Mar 1, 04:28 AM    #

20. Growing up in a conservative Catholic home my father would have had us believe WFB was a canonized saint. My sister had words she heard him use that she couldn’t find in any dictionary. But my fondest memories were coming home fom my summer job in NYC to catch his comments on the evening news when he was running for mayor. “Demanding a recount” doesn’t do justice to how truly entertaining his campaign was.

    — Bren Clayton    Mar 1, 04:52 PM    #

Previous: Reversal of Head-Scarf Ban in Turkey Faces Legal Challenge
Next: U.S. Labor Dept. Sues Knoxville College Over Lapsed Retirement Contribution