What Would Bill Buckley Think of His Party Today?

The founders of modern conservatism would not recognize it today. The infusion of libertarian selfishness, social issues and populism are a far cry from Burke and Oakeshott.

Yet if we look at the individual that many consider the father of modern conservatism, William F. Buckley Jr., we see the accumulation and formation of all of today's social issues. We see the influence of religion in politics, homophobia, racism and even populism. Because while Buckley was often seen as part of the NY elite, it was Buckley who said, “I would rather be governed by the first two thousand people in the Boston telephone directory, than by the faculty of Harvard.” Buckley said that in 1963 and 54 years later he seems to have gotten his wish.

What Buckley did understand, far ahead of almost anyone else, is the media and how to use its many parts. I’m sure if he was still with us, he’d be tweeting today.

Alvin Felzenberg, who served in two presidential administrations and was the principal spokesman for the 9/11 commission, looks at Buckley in A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr.

My conversation with Alvin Felzenberg:

** Mr. Felzenberg did this conversation from a crowded and noisy resturant, and we apologize for the background noise, particularly between 8 and 10 minutes in. Thanks for understanding. 

Buckley and Mailer: The Difficult Friendship

Today we have talking heads and pundits. But back in the second half of the 20th Century we had writers and public intellectuals, whose ideas, attitudes and personalities became a part of our public discourse.

Two of those that were the touchstones of the times were William F.Buckley and Norman Mailer. Both wrote about history, about sex, about politics and sometimes all at once. They were the guests you wanted to have at any dinner party.

They were also, each in his own way, bad boys of American letter. Buckley with his rapier wit and insults, pushed away as many people as admired him. Mailer with his pugilistic persona, further showed that with complex figures, the public surfaces were only part of the story.

Kevin Schultz gives us a kind of conjoined biography of the two in Buckley and Mailer: The Difficult Friendship That Shaped the Sixties.

My conversation with Kevin Schultz:

William F. Buckley

As Republican candidates move around the country trying define their conservative credentials, it's worth noting, as perhaps they should, that this year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the publication, by a then 26 year old William F. Buckley, of GOD AND MAN AT YALE. A book that many consider the seminal text of the modern conservative movement. It was a book that would redefine Conservatism in the cold war era and beyond. It was a conservatism that had evolved from Edmund Burke and the French Revolution, and was near death in the late 40's and would be given new life by Buckley. Buckley would go on to found National Review, provide the intellectual heft to continue to drive conservatism, provide the ideological underpinnings of Barry Goldwater, run for Mayor of New York, write over 50 books, appear in almost 1500 episodes of Firing Line and all the while define the difference between the passion of ideas and passion of friendship. Roger Williams University Law Professor Carl T. Bogus gives us a modern view of Buckley in this new book Buckley: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism.

My conversation with Carl Bogus:

Click here to listen on your iphone or ipad