Mallard Fillmore Celebrates William F. Buckley's Birthday!

November 24, 2004 | Bruce TInsley

[Carthago delenda est]

Okay, so I'm a few days late with this, but here goes:

24

[Carthago delenda est]

As I noted above, I may be a few days late with this, but there's never a bad day to celebrate Buckley, whose behind-the-scenes work in building the conservative movement was phenomenal. David Brooks put it well when he said that, without Buckley, we wouldn't have had a conservative movement (or Barry Goldwater), and without a conservative movement, we wouldn't have had Ronald Reagan. As Brooks said: "You fill in the rest."

I had my picture taken with Buckley during a trip to Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago. In the photo, Buckley looks like a senior statesman, and I look like a grinning albino.

Having your picture taken with great men has a way of making you look pathetic.

Bottoms up! Happy birthday, big guy!

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Oh. I forgot he has the same birthday as I do.

[breakem]

Thanx for the post.

[manna]

Happy belated birthday to both of you!

[manna]

Errr, happy birthday to wil1776 and Mr. Buckley. Of course, happy birthday to Carthage delenda est, whenever it may be.

I'll be quiet now.

[Palladin]

Happy 98th birthday to Mr. Buckley!

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Thanks.

[Carthago delenda est]

Of course, happy birthday to Carthage delenda est, whenever it may be.

May 19th. :-)

[Carthago delenda est]

Oh, by the way, May 19th is also the birthday of Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh. :-(

In honor of "Uncle Ho," an American eft-wing terrorist group sprung up in the 1960's with the name "May 19th Communist Organization." I just about fell out of my chair the first time I read about this group. Ewww!

[Mr. K]

good post

Bill Buckley is one of the most important men of the last century

[Lokibob]

Every Jan 8th, I celebrate Millard Fillmore's birthday. He was the "do nothing" president, effectively putting off the civil war for 10 years. he also was the first president that put a bathtub in the Whit House.

So, every Jan 8th, in honor of President Fillmore, I sit in the bathtub and do nothing.

[Urbane_Guerilla]

Buckley could be the most underrated influence in 20th Century America, and thus the world. Imagine a youngster (as Buckley was) in 1955, starting National Review, a magazine which single-handedly established conservatism as a respectable intellectual force in America. But it was more than that, for many years it was a lifeline to conservatives who quite literally were regarded as mentally unstable for refusing to accept the dominant liberal culture.

Buckley was my great hero in my highschool years during the 60's. My senior yearbook has a picture of me imitating (or trying to imitate) that unique Buckley look of bemusement, as I was sitting in front of a big poster of Buckley.

In 1970, when at college, I got to visit the filming of Firing Line in Manhatten. They filmed two episodes. The first featured Spiro Agnew. Before the show I just walked up to Agnew (who was standing by himself, believe it or not) and challenged him on the meaning of the word "centrist," a word he used to describe himself. Agnew was very unlike his image ... he was extremely intelligent and not at all aloof.

But the big thrill of my life was talking to Buckley himself. Buckley was sitting in a little room being made up. Again, I just walked right up to him. He was drinking a scotch. He was incredibly charming, warm and human. He acted genuinely delighted to be talking to a scruffy 18 year old. I told him about the yearbook picture with the poster and he got a big kick out of that. I was blatantly hero-worshipping, and believe me, that is against my nature, and it is something I have never done again.

Our conversation was only a few minutes long. He asked for my address. Two weeks later in the mail I got a hardback copy of The Jeweler's Eye which he autographed, addressed to me. (It was in red ink).

On the second episode of Firing Line, Buckley held a question and answer "dialogue" with college students. He called on me, and I asked him about the morality of the draft. Geeze, I suppose there might still exist film of my 18 year old self asking Buckley a question on tv.

I love and esteem Ronald Reagan. William F. Buckley Jr, I am not ashamed to say I idolize.

[Eala]

NR ping

[tortoise]

Me too.

[gcruse]

I admire strong intellect wherever it surfaces. Cornel West was a hero of mine until I actually read what he writes. The man is a poseur, but WFB is the genuine article. And when Buckley turned against the War on Drugs...ah, nirvana. A major influence on my pre-political mind was Up From Liberalism, right along side of Darkness at Noon.

[mc5cents]

Happy Birthday Bill!

[cornelis]

I saw Buckley once, in a small group. Chairs were round about in a circle, and he stood facing us, leaning ponderously with two hands on the back of a chair, rocking it tediously as if to further his dignity. I was permitted to field a question. And without my knowledge that he had just published a huge article in NR which made a connection between the civil war and abortion, I proceeded to pave the way for his thought by asking about the connection between the civil war and abortion, about the status of the slaves at issue during the civil war and the status of the unborn today.

His answer bagan with the observation that most people alive today no longer have a memory of the civil war. That is all I remember of it. I never saw the picture taken later that day of him shaking my hand as he looked elsewhere. After that I read his sailing books (skipping the chapters on navigation and his HP gizmos). I also saw him play Bach, in a concert, a hobby he later admitted absorbed too much time. He had a piano on his older sailboat, and questioned his son's musical tastes while sailing his newer one.

He recommend Schimmelpenninck cigars, and if were allowed to share the celebration of his birthday, I'd smoke one to his honor.

[Urbane_Guerilla]

Buckley is the real article, and that is the greatest thing he contributed toward life. He was himself, serenely. And altho I am an agnostic, it was apparent to me that Buckley loved Jesus as his Lord.

Buckley was the Howard Stern of his time. He resolved to ignore the baloney, despite what the folks thought of him.

Buckley is ten times more the man than Stern. That is NOT a put-down of Stern.

Buckley was and is one of those rare men who are able to see things as they are, and to convey them.

[Chu Gary]

"I love and esteem Ronald Reagan. William F. Buckley Jr, I am not ashamed to say I idolize."

A very nice post. I was on some plane back around 1976 or 77 from the Philippines to the U.S. and Buckley was in the seat behind me, zonked out. Unfortunately, his really, really obnoxious and loud aides were all over and talked and talked and talked, all the while at a high volume, the whole damn way across the Pacific.

[Urbane_Guerilla]

Buckley was a showman, it's the premise of his personality. We are so lucky that a unique, articulate, understanding, truly human being, a genuine creature, should be a conservative.

Buckley and Reagan, personally: zero phoniness.

Zero phoniness is the essence of conservatism.