The Buckley Legacy

With the American conservative movement in crisis in the wake of President Trump’s rise, its flagship magazine, National Review, is pushing for a renewal inspired by NR’s founder, William F. Buckley Jr.

Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of WFB’s death and a conference at the New York Yacht Club on his legacy and its future, the first in a series of meetings across the country.

Buckley was for years the face of cheerful, sophisticated and civil conservatism — supporting free markets and traditional values; profoundly pro-American and anti-totalitarian. His 1965 campaign for mayor of New York was one highlight of the crusade, as was devoted NR reader Ronald Reagan’s election as president in 1980.

Along the way, Buckley read the “crazies” — the conspiratorial John Birch Society and the more extreme Ayn Rand cultists — out of the movement.

But what does it mean today? Trump, after all, rose despite NR’s opposition, most obviously its “Against Trump” issue during the 2016 primaries. Today the magazine features both Trump fans like Victor Davis Hanson and consistent critics like Jonah Goldberg.

Then again, WFB’s NR was no stranger to the political wilderness: It was in near-constant war with the Nixon administration long before Watergate.

So a look back at the founder is well in order. As Jack Fowler, an NR vice president, notes: “It’s the rare person who founds a meaningful cause, which is lasting and consequential, which plays a vital role in defeating an oppressive ideology, in bringing freedom to many millions, of advocating for free minds and markets, thereby affording increased prosperity to billions worldwide.”

We look forward to seeing what a re-imagined, re-inspired conservative movement comes up with.