William F. Buckley 1925 - 2008

From The National Review

I’m devastated to report that our dear friend, mentor, leader, and founder William F. Buckley Jr., died this morning in his study in Stamford, Connecticut.

He died while at work; if he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas.

As you might expect, we’ll have much more to say here and in NR in the coming days and weeks and months. For now: Thank you, Bill. God bless you, now with your dear Pat. Our deepest condolences to Christopher and the rest of the Buckley family. And our fervent prayer that we continue to do WFB’s life’s work justice. - Kathryn Jean Lopez


William F. Buckley, Jr.

Declared a "national institution" by the Chicago Tribune, Buckley has established a well-deserved reputation as one of this country's most accomplished political analysts, critics and debaters. His Universal Press Syndicate column, On the Right, has been bringing his lively, eloquently written conservative analyses of current events to newspaper readers since 1962.

In a career that has taken him from Yale to the United Nations and into politics and journalism, Buckley has earned some of America's highest honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an American Book Award, an Emmy Award and numerous others. He is a Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, and has received numerous honorary degrees.

Founder of National Review, the lively and respected journal of conservative thought and opinion, Buckley also gained acclaim as host of the long-running weekly debate program "Firing Line." The program, which ended its 33-year run on television in 1999, featured such distinguished guests as George Bush, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, John Kenneth Galbraith, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Barry Goldwater, Germaine Greer, Edward Heath, Henry Kissinger, the Dalai Lama, Norman Mailer, Groucho Marx, James Michener, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Theodore White and Tom Wolfe.

Buckley has written more than 40 books, including God and Man at Yale, Saving the Queen, Up From Liberalism, Airborne and most recently, Spytime: The Undoing of James Jesus Angleton. He has contributed articles to most major American publications, including Architectural Digest, Art & Antiques, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Foreign Affairs, Harper's, Life, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Playboy, The Saturday Evening Post and Yachting.

Born in New York City in 1925, Buckley spent his early school years in England and France. He graduated with honors from Yale in 1950. He and his wife, Patricia, have been married for more than 50 years and have a son, Christopher.