American Conservative

William Frank Buckley Jr. (New York City, November 24, 1925 - Stamford, February 27, 2008) was born in a devoutly American Roman Catholic family. Buckley was a prominent conservative author and commentator, and the founder of the National Review. He was also host of Firing Line, a talk show featured for years on the otherwise liberal public television. He was admired on both sides of the political spectrum for his seemingly limitless vocabulary, and his intellectual wit.

He was educated in an English preparatory school as a teenager. As young man, he wrote an influential book about his college experiences entitled, "God and Man at Yale" (1951). This was his first book and detailed what he saw as the collectivist and anti-Christian leanings of America's universities. He was educated in England and France, and also studied Spanish in Mexico City (1943, (Buckley's first language had been Spanish, having been raised by Mexican nannies). Buckley graduated from the Millbrook School in Millbrook, NY, in 1943, and from Yale University, in 1950. This background pictured him as a moderate American conservative.

Buckley founded in 1955 the National Review (NR), a biweekly magazine of political opinion. Ronald Reagan was a longtime subscriber to National Review. Through the magazine he fostered the idea of a conservative movement.

Buckley wrote over 50 books about American conservatism, history, politics and sailing, and a series of spy novels (which featured the fictitious Yale graduate Blackford Oakes) that were consistent best sellers.