Buckley, William Frank, Jr., 1925-2008, American editor, author, and lecturer, b. New York City, grad. Yale, 1946. A popular, eloquent, and witty spokesman for the conservative point of view, Buckley helped found the modern conservative movement and played an important part in promoting the growth of American conservatism during the second half of the 20th century. He first came to national attention with the publication of his book God and Man at Yale (1951), a scathing attack on his alma mater for what he alleged were its secular outlook and left-wing political bias. An editor for The American Mercury (1951-52), he founded (1955) the National Review, which soon became the leading journal of conservativism in the United States; he edited the magazine until 1990 and had a controlling interest in it until 2004. In 1965 he was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York City, a campaign he described in The Unmaking of a Mayor (1966). He hosted (1966-99) the Emmy-winning public-affairs television show "Firing Line," and wrote (1962-2008) a syndicated column, "On the Right." He wrote more than 50 books, both fiction and nonfiction. His novelistic accounts of the adventures of an American spy during the cold war include Saving the Queen (1976), Marco Polo, If You Can (1982), A Very Private Plot (1994), and Last Call for Blackford Oakes (2005). He also wrote The Redhunter (1999), a largely favorable fictional presentation of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's activities.

(born Nov. 24, 1925, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Feb. 27, 2008, Stamford, Conn.) U.S. writer and editor. He attended Yale University, where he was chairman of the Yale Daily News. In 1955 he founded the National Review; as editor in chief, he used the journal as a forum for his conservative views. His column “On the Right” was syndicated in 1962 and eventually appeared in more than 200 newspapers. From 1966 to 1999 he hosted Firing Line, a weekly television interview program in which he often employed his wit and debating skills against ideological opponents. His books include God and Man at Yale (1951), Rumbles Left and Right (1963), and a series of spy novels.

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