[Redbob]

"Yet Buckley, along with the unlikely intellectual partner Ronald Reagan..."

WTF?

So YOU'RE an "intellectual but Reagan wasn't???

[Albion Wilde]

"Yet Buckley, along with the unlikely intellectual partner Ronald Reagan..." WTF? So YOU'RE an "intellectual but Reagan wasn't???

I'm sorry you took that as a negative against Reagan, which it was not intended to be. I was writing from the perspective of the typiclal magazine reader of National Review, or the viewer of media reports of Reagan -- in other words, public perceptions, in which the two men might have appeared totally different. Here are some of the ways:

Buckley - east coast
Reagan - west coast

Buckley - Catholic
Reagan - Protestant

Buckley - urbane, wealthy background
Reagan - small town working class origins

Buckley - Ivy League
Reagan - small college

Buckley - known early for intellectual prowess
Reagan - known early for Hollywood acting career

Buckley - Catholic
Reagan - Protestant

Buckley - theoretical views of communism
Reagan - actually fought against communist influence in actor's union

Buckley - limited audience of similar upscale people
Reagan - broader audience of a variety of people, most in the middle

Buckley - portrayed by media as great intellectual, perhaps overestimated
Reagan - portrayed by media as stupid, lazy and senile; greatly underestimated

I could go on; but you get the picture of how their lives may have seemed in contrast in the public's eyes. This contrast is what made them unlikely partners; however, I have the greatest respect not only for Reagan's intellect, but also his, to my mind, superior communication skills between the two men for the purposes they set out to accomplish. Their teamwork created a great resurgence of respect for the lasting initiatives of our Founders, and formed a powerful coalition that has unfortunately been squandered by the Bush cartel.