Didn't know that.
I gotta believe the same for guys like Krauthammer and the rest of these so-called "conservative stalwarts". Honesty, I think even the founder of the "Conservative Movement", Buckley, was flummoxed by Reagan and at some point even Buckley seemed to have lost his way. The status quo is NOT where you should hang you hat or try to fix your anchor ("block that metaphor" notwithstanding :) )
More fuel for the fire to burn up the GOPe which in a way is more destructive than the Dems because people think the GOP is supposed to stand for something more than its own self-perpetuation.
Dunno that George Will hated Reagan, but he sure didn’t back him in the 1980 primary. He backed Howard Baker and GHW Bush.
Krauthammer wasn’t pretending to be a conservative yet, in 1984 he was still a Democrat liberal writing speeches for Walter Mondale in the attempt to deny Reagan a second term.
Buckley and the whole NR crew were early and eager backers of Reagan (back when National Review was a great magazine and not the worthless farce that it is today). I don’t recall any harsh criticism of Reagan by Buckley .