Posted on 03/09/2023 10:01:42 AM PST by Borges
The oldest living former U.S. senator turns 100 Thursday. James L. Buckley is among the few in American history who have served in the upper echelons of all three branches of our government.
Jim Buckley served as a lieutenant in the Navy during the final years of the Pacific war. After the war, he attended Yale Law School and became an attorney. In 1970 Mr. Buckley won a historic third-party victory as the Conservative Party’s Senate nominee in New York.
Serving as a U.S. senator until 1977, Mr. Buckley was an articulate and cordial agent of change and an advocate for federal spending restraint, muscular national defense and a less-intrusive state.
As a senator and litigant in Buckley v. Valeo (1976), he battled unconstitutional campaign finance “reform.” He opposed dubious federal spending and always upheld the highest standards of ethics. Mr. Buckley was one of the first members of the Republican caucus to call on President Nixon to resign after Watergate.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
William’s older brother.
I met him at CPAC ‘79. We chatted briefly. When I told him I was from Tennessee, he bemoaned the reelection defeat of Tennessee Republican Bill Brock. I said, “Some of us were more upset about what happened to you (his defeat as a Senator in NY state). He laughed and said, “But I was in a high-risk area.”
I remember distributing flyers for his re-election campaign when I was in high school.
Still on Senior Status with the DC Court of Appeals.
Jim Buckley is a legend. I often think of his 1970 Senate win in NY as belonging to the pantheon of “sweetest victories” for American conservatism. Buckley town down not only a Dem but the smarmy RINO dad of Roger Goodell.
*took down
One of the good guys.
Such decent, rational men in public service are extremely rare.
His book “If men were angels”, covers his unlikely Senate career. A good read.
He was a very kindly man, and may he RIP.
He isn’t dead. He just turned 100.
Oh, wow. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. How embarrassing!
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