William F. Buckley Jr. Dead; One Less Smart Person In The World

Posted on February 27, 2008
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Agree with him or not, few would argue (and, if they did, they’d loose the argument) that William F. Buckley Jr. was one smart dude.

In fact, Buckley himself recognized that when he told The New York Times Book Review, “I am, I fully grant, a phenomenon, but not because of any speed in composition. I asked myself the other day, ‘Who else, on so many issues, has been so right so much of the time?’ I couldn’t think of anyone.”

Bravo!

Even if you are a far left leaning individual, (or REALLY left if you are Barack Obama) you’d have to admire a resume that includes such things as, intellectual conservative, debater, harpsichordist, one time CIA agent in Mexico, editor, novelist, and unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York City.

Biting the School That Fed Him

Buckley, who is widely credited with having helped establish the modern Conservative movement in this country, first came to the public’s notice in 1951. That was the year he had a book published about his Ivy League alma mater called “God and Man at Yale” which took the university to task for what he viewed as its anti-religious and leftist leanings.

Buckley’s short shift with the CIA ended because he thought it “boring.” Now if that doesn’t say something, what does?

He went on, of course, to found the National Review (a “magazine”–see: Pre-Blog Era), create a television interview platform for his views and guests, and, finally in old age, a novelist.

He was 82.

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