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William Frank Buckley Jr. (born November 24 , 1925 ), is an American author, Journalist and conservative commentator based in New York City . He founded the influential Conservative political Magazine '' National Review '' in 1955 and the award-winning television show '' Firing Line '' in 1966. CHILDHOOD Buckley was born in New York City to lawyer and oil baron William Frank Buckley, Sr. , who was of Irish Catholic descent, and Aloise Steiner, who was of Swiss-German descent. The sixth of 10 children, young Buckley moved with his family to Sharon, Connecticut . He soon moved to Paris where he attended first grade and learned French. By age 7, he had received formal training in English at a day school in London. As a boy, Buckley developed a love for music, horses, swimming, hunting, story-telling and the importance of his religious faith; all of which would be reflected in his later writings. EDUCATION, MILITARY SERVICE AND THE CIA In 1943, Buckley attended the University of Mexico. The following year, he joined the U.S. Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. When World War II ended in 1945, he enrolled in Yale University where he became a member of the secret Skull And Bones society, was an active member of the Conservative Party and of the Yale Political Union , and served as Chairman of the Yale Daily News . Buckley graduated from Yale in 1950. That same year, he married Patricia Taylor (born July 1 , 1926 ) a Protestant from Vancouver , British Columbia . They had one child, a son, writer Christopher Buckley , an only child with 49 first cousins. Patricia Taylor Buckley ultimately became a naturalized citizen of the USA, but there is no evidence she ever converted to Roman Catholicism . In 1951, Buckley was recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) where he served for less than one year. Little has been published regarding Buckley's work with the CIA, but in a 2001 letter to author W. Thomas Smith, Jr. , Buckley wrote, “I did training in Washington as a secret agent and was sent to Mexico City. There I served under the direct supervision of Howard Hunt , about whom of course a great deal is known.” In a November 1 , 2005 editorial for the '' National Review '', he recounted that:
While with the agency in Mexico , Buckley edited ''The Road to Yenan'', a book addressing the Communist quest for global domination, by Peruvian author Eudocio Ravines. CAREER In 1951, the same year he was recruited into the CIA, Buckley's first book, '' God And Man At Yale '', was published. The book was a critique of Yale University , in which he argued that the school had strayed from its original, Christian mission. In the book, he attacked Yale for being anti-religion, anti-capitalist and collectivist. He then worked as an editor for ''''. Five years later, in 1965, he ran for Mayor Of New York City as the candidate for the newly formed Conservative Party because of his dissatisfaction with the very liberal Republican candidate John Lindsay . Buckley finished third with 13 percent of the vote. When asked what he would do if he won the race, Buckley issued his classic response, "I'd demand a recount." In 1973, he served as a delegate to the United Nations . Buckley is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist whose work appears in more than 300 newspapers, and has authored numerous books both fiction and non-fiction. His writing style is characterized by his strict adherence to correct Grammar , strong opinion and use of uncommon words. Over the course of his career, Buckley's views have changed on some issues, such as Drug Legalization , which he now favors. Buckley is the author of a series of novels featuring the character of CIA agent Blackford Oakes . He also has written several books on communicating, writing, history, political thought and Sailing . In 1981, Buckley informed President-elect (and personal friend) Ronald Reagan that he did not want any official position in Reagan's administration. Reagan replied that was too bad, because he had wanted to make Buckley ambassador to (then Soviet -occupied) Afghanistan . Buckley replied that he was willing to take the job but only if he were to be supplied with 10 divisions of “bodyguards”. Buckley participated in a debate following the airing of '' The Day After '', a 1983 made-for-TV movie about the effects of nuclear war. A staunch anti-communist, Buckley consistently defended the strategy of Nuclear Deterrence during the Cold War. In 1991, Buckley received the Presidential Medal Of Freedom from President George H. W. Bush. In June 2004, Buckley relinquished his controlling shares of ''National Review'' to a pre-selected board of trustees. The following month, ''Miles Gone By'', a memoir of his life, career and love of sailing was published. Buckley continues to write his syndicated newspaper column, as well as opinion pieces for '' National Review '' (the bi-weekly magazine) and National Review Online (the popular daily Web version of the magazine known widely as NRO). Buckley remains editor-at-large at the magazine. He also lectures, grants occasional radio interviews and makes guest appearances on national television news programs. Recently Buckley has criticized certain aspects of policy within the conservative movement, which he largely helped create. He has said, “Bush is conservative, but he is not a conservative,” and that Bush was elected “as a vessel of the conservative faith.” According to Buckley, the ). Firing Line For many viewers of Public Television , Buckely's erudite style on his weekly show '' Firing Line '' was their primary exposure to Buckley. Buckley displayed a scholarly, non-confrontational and humorous approach to his conservatism and was known for his facial expressions and gestures when asking particularly probing intellectual questions of his guests. It is instructive to compare the finale of ''Firing Line'' with that of '' Crossfire ''. CRITICISM As could be expected from a high-profile media figure, Buckley throughout his career has received much criticism, largely from the American left but also from certain factions on the right such as the John Birch Society, some libertarians, and Objectivists (though this last cannot be classified as strictly rightist). Critics claim he is stubborn and unwilling to participate in debates where his chances of winning are not good. Buckley appeared in a series of televised debates opposite Gore Vidal during the 1968 political conventions. In their penultimate debate on August 22 of that year, the two disagreed over the propriety of the Chicago Police action with regard to protesters at the then-ongoing Democratic Convention in Chicago. At one point Vidal called Buckley a “crypto-Nazi”, to which Buckley replied, “Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in your goddamn face, and you'll stay plastered.” {Link without Title} Some critics regard Buckley as arrogant and believe his clipped Mid-Atlantic English accent to be pretentious. Few know, however, that Buckley came late to the English language, not learning it until he was 7 (his first language was Spanish, learned in Mexico, and his second French, learned in Paris). Buckley also is criticized for perceived snobbery, evoking his wealthy New England background to seem glamorous (e.g. in '' God And Man At Yale ''). Ayn Rand criticized what she saw as Buckley's attempt to blend religion and capitalism, a combination she saw as working to discredit capitalism while advancing what she called "theocracy". QUOTATIONS
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Blackford Oakes book series REFERENCES ; Books TRIVIA Buckley was mentioned in the 2005 film, '' Good Night, And Good Luck '', as a potential candidate to defend the behavior of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy on Edward R. Murrow 's television program, See It Now . Buckley eventually did not speak in place of McCarthy; McCarthy himself appeared on the program. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=anN._IfoJo1M&refer=us Buckley also plays the Harpsichord very well and did so once on Late Night With Conan O'Brian EXTERNAL LINKS
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