William F. Buckley, Jr. passed away today. How very sad. For some libertarians, it all started with Rand. For me, it started with Buckley.
WFB was my guiding light through those formative years in the 1960s when the “anti-war” (pro-Hanoi) movement, the New Left, and the counter-culture were in full cry.
Though vastly outnumbered in high school by peers and teachers mouthing cliches of socialism, appeasement, and moral relativism, I confidently debated any and all comers, armed with facts and arguments from National Review, Firing Line, and a slew of books by WFB and other NR columnists, and emboldened by his courage, brilliance, and wit.
Very likely I would not have read Mises and Hayek in my teens, attended Claremont McKenna College (a school hospitable to conservative students and faculty), studied there with Harry Jaffa (the great Lincoln and Aristotle scholar whom Buckley esteemed), or pursued graduate studies in political philosophy had WFB not opened my young eyes to the perils of statism and the excitement of the war of ideas.
WFB’s contribution to American politics and civilization should not be underestimated. Would the Reagan Presidency–critical to the demise of Soviet communism–have even been possible without the conservative movement WFB did so much to found and nurture? I doubt it.
Although never personally associated with WFB, I always felt a personal fondness for him that went beyond admiration for his talents and contributions. I’m sure many others share this feeling. He will be missed.
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Marlo,
Thanks for sharing your kind words on William F. Buckley, Jr. I am especially heartened to see your post on CEI’s website. Buckley’s philosophy provided a point of connection between libertarians and conservatives that I think sadly has been eroded over the last several years of wars for democracy abroad and bloated Republican rule at home. I am sad that he has left us, but hold hope that his passing will inspire a rediscovery of his principles, especially by todays conservatives.
Crasher Jiminy
Dear Mr. Lewis,
I agree one hundred percent with this post. It’s unfortunate that few conservatives recognize that Buckley was at his best when he was demolishing the welfare state with his characteristic charm. (I hope you don’t that I’ve reposted this post at my blog, which focuses on Claremont McKenna news from a conservative/libertarian perspective.
A fellow stag,
Charles Johnson
Dea Mr. Lewis,
You write: “Would the Reagan Presidency–critical to the demise of Soviet communism–have even been possible without the conservative movement WFB did so much to found and nurture? I doubt it.”
As a former Soviet citizen and a scholar in Russian History, I would like to point that the demise of the USSR had been underway long before Mr. Reagan. The Soviet economy was designed as a contradiction to the basic law of supply and demand. For decades it (mis)functioned as a double economy, with the “shadow†part being actually more successful than the official one. To assume that without Reagan the Soviet economy would prosper means to recognize that the Communisms as a viable system. Anybody informed about the history of the USSR and the structure of the Soviet economy thinks of the “Reagan myth†is laughable. And also sad – since the propaganda has been put before the truth.
When first immigrated to the USA, I used to enjoy Mr. Buckley’s “Firing Line.” Today I think about him as a semi-tragic figure, for he had lived long enough to see the realization of his dreams of dominance of conservative ideology in the USA. Unfortunately, the ways and means of the current “conservative†movement replicate Russian Bolsheviks at the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, it is “conservative†only in word. Mr. Buckley found himself in a company of Rush, Coulter, and, politically, with the spectacularly ignorant and principle-less Bush Jr., who is of course, Mr. Buckley’s creature and part of Mr. Buckley’s legacy.
Marina Korsakova