[BerniesFriend]

Actually..I have always liked Buckley..found him witty and funny..but looking back on his track record..when he was the "top conservative"..he didn't get a lot accomplished..I don't think he got Nixon or Reagan elected and re-elected..during his prime the dems controlled both chambers for the most part..actually..it was a radio host with little formal education that was credited with ending four decades of dem control of the congress..my two cents..

[perfect stranger]

during his prime the dems controlled both chambers for the most part

You can hardly blame him for that.

It was a radio host with little formal education that was credited with ending four decades of dem control of the congress..my two cents..

Little formal eductaion? What do you define as "formal".

[Richard Kimball]

Buckley has always reminded me of George Will. They're also the kind of conservatives liberals like. They take their place as the token conservative in liberal controlled media, and wear bow ties or something else to show that they're acceptably eccentric, and have the same scholarly distance from the subject, injecting a mild disagreement here and there, but ultimately secure that what they're saying doesn't make any difference at all.

They won't push a point, or back a liberal into a corner. They were the happy conservative minority when the Democrats controlled all branches of government, content to sigh and wearily shake their heads at the follies of the liberals, secure that things would be better if they were in charge, but secretly happy that they weren't.

[irishjuggler]

I don't think he got Nixon or Reagan elected and re-elected..

If Reagan hadn't started reading National Review in the '50s, would he have ever even entered politics? Disagree all you want with Bill Buckley, but let's not deny the man his due. He had a profound influence on several generations of conservatives beginning with Reagan.

[Norman Arbuthnot]

it was a radio host with little formal education that was credited with ending four decades of dem control of the congress..my two cents..

National Review was a huge influence on Limbaugh and countless other conservatives from the 1960's to the 1990's. I think Rush would admit that.

[FastCoyote]

"actually..it was a radio host with little formal education that was credited with ending four decades of dem control of the congress..my two cents.."

Yup, conservatives owe Rush the world right now.

[clooney4824]

Yup...you are exactly right...it was Rush who ended the liberal dominance in Congress.

[nothingnew]

Limbaugh has had WFB quite recently on his show, and professes that WFB was his mentor.

Enough said about WFB.

You're idea that Rush was one of the major causes of the politic change is right on. He used WFB's pattern and presented it to the public in a way most of us could understand, over the airwaves. Both men are a gift and I appreciate them equally.

FMCDH(BITS)

[Pelham]

And who gave that host credit for the astounding feat? Other than his awarding that distinction to himself, I mean.

[xkaydet65]

DIdn't get a lot accomplished?? Bill Buckley is the father of the modern Conservative movement in America. It was he and his magazine that provided the intellectual ammunition that became the Reagan Revolution. As for getting or not getting Nixon elected, anyone can tell you that Nixon was no conservative. In the election of 1960 if there was a conservative candidate it was Kennedy. Under Nixon's watch we had wage and price controls, the start of the EPA, Osha, an expansion of federal intrusions into state and local life and no constraint on the Great Society. Carter and Clinton were more conservative domestically than Nixon.

I don't defend Bill Buckley's life. As a son of a blue collar New Yorker I always found him willing to talk down to the masses, but his intellect and his dedication to conservative ideals, which he helped create, can never be in question. In 1965 my HS Engish teacher took me and several other students to meet and talk with BB. I've met many true intellects since, but never one to surpass Bill Buckley.