March 04, 2025

Republicans and Evangelicals I William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review

44 minutes

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Senator Robert Taft couldn't get the nomination. He tried to be the GOP's nominee for president three different times but could not get elected. Conservative Republicans' failure to get nominated by their own party was a source of much frustration. What could they do? Concerns of conspiracy spread through people like Phyllis Schlafly whose book A Choice Not an Echo claimed that "elites" were steering the party.

It was into this world that a bright young man with an untraceable accent found his appeal. William F. Buckley Jr. was born into a wealthy family that was deeply Catholic and driven by concern over the New Deal. They were libertarians and wanted a small government. Buckley lived a childhood of privilege, riding horses, playing piano, and mostly private education. His first book, God and Man at Yale, was a sharp critique of his alma mater, stating that they should have done a better job promoting laissez-faire economics and religion. The book was a smash hit, in part, because Yale fought its charges in the press.

Buckley followed it with a rousing defense of Senator Joseph McCarthy's tactics in the early 1950s, but the book was published just as the senator was revealed to be the demagogue he was. So Buckley decided to shift his effort to creating a journal of opinion that would appeal to conservatives. National Review became the "it" publication for conservatism in the US, and the most successful journal of opinion in the country. Its greatest impact was giving conservatism an intellectual voice in an era when the "liberal consensus" dominated.

Buckley then went on to start in the PBS television show Firing Line, a funny thing for a libertarian because the show was sponsored, in part, through government funding. Buckley succeeded in giving conservatism an intellectual voice. In the process, he won his greatest victory: convincing Ronald Reagan to become a conservative.

Sources

Buckley: William F Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism by Cart T. Bogus.

The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism by David Farber

Burning Down the House by Andrew Koppelman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYgv7ur8ipg&t=3018s Firing Line Episode 113, September 3 1968

Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein

God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley Jr

Heather Cox Richardson's YouTube series on the history of the GOP

National Review. 1st edition, November 19, 1955. Page 6 (gives a helpful breakdown of what the magazine stands for)

Hoover Institution article on the impact of Buckley and Firing Line

Reaganland by Rick Perlstein

The Incomparable Mr. Buckley documentary

Discussion Questions

Do you have any personal connection with Buckley? Did you see his shows or read his writings?

Why did conservatism need an intellectual voice?

How did conservatism change between Bob Taft and Buckley?

Buckley believed in a limited government, one that incorporated Christianity. Would you like his version of the American government?

Buckley claimed that he wasn't racist, but believed that black people were incapable of governing themselves. That they should earn the right to vote in the South. Is this racism?

National Review welcomed segregationists to write in the journal. Would you read a publication like this?

Buckley advocated for a smaller government but also stared in a TV show on public television. Does this strike you as hypocrisy?

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