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William F. Buckley, Jr. biography and career timeline

William F. Buckley, Jr. is widely considered one of the architects of the modern conservative movement who influenced generations of politicians, including Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. As founder of the National Review and host of the public affairs program “Firing Line” for over 30 years, Buckley created new spaces for civic discourse that were accessible to the public. This timeline explores William F. Buckley, Jr.’s life and the major milestones in his career.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1925

William F. Buckley, Jr. is born on November 24 in New York City to Aloise Steiner Buckley and William F. Buckley, Sr.

1925
1943-1946

Buckley serves in the U.S. Army during World War II as a second lieutenant. He did not see combat.

1943-1946
1946-1950

LIFE AT YALE

Buckley enrolls at Yale University, where he is a champion debater, a member of the elite secret society Skull and Bones and the controversial editor of the Yale Daily News.

1946-1950
1950

Buckley marries Patricia Taylor, a Canadian heiress, in Vancouver.

1950
1951

Buckley publishes his first book, “God and Man at Yale,” in which he charges that his alma mater is pursuing educational philosophy that slights religion and free enterprise capitalism in pursuit of “academic freedom.”

1951
1954

Buckley publishes his second book, “McCarthy and his Enemies,” a cautious defense of Joseph McCarthy’s communist-hunting.

1954
1955

THE NATIONAL REVIEW

Buckley founds National Review, which becomes the intellectual beacon of the conservative movement.

1955
1964

Buckley backs the Presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater, but begins the pruning of extremist elements, such as the John Birch Society, from the conservative movement.

1964
1965

Buckley debates writer and civil rights icon James Baldwin at Cambridge University in England. He is soundly defeated and exposed as an elitist.

1965
1966
MAYORAL RUN

MAYORAL RUN

Buckley stages a long-shot mayoral bid in New York City. To everyone’s surprise, including his own, he attracts solid support from the white, ethnic, working-class voters of the city, signaling the beginning of an exodus from the Democratic Party.

1966
1966

Buckley presents the first episode of his television show “Firing Line,” which will run for the next 33 years and have over 1,500 episodes. Noted for its intellectual depth, lively conversation, and breadth of subjects and guests, “Firing Line” set a standard for interview shows.

1966
1968

Buckley debates liberal writer Gore Vidal on ABC television during the Democratic Convention in Chicago. In one of the most famous moments of live television ever captured, the pair almost come to blows over the behavior of Chicago police officers toward demonstrators on the streets of the city.

1968
1974

Buckley persuades his brother, Senator Jim Buckley of Connecticut, to become the first Republican senator to call for the resignation of Richard Nixon.

1974
1976

Buckley publishes his first novel, “God Save the Queen.”

1976
1980

Governor Ronald Reagan of California is elected President, representing the culminating triumph of Buckley’s career.

1980
2004

Buckley retires as editor of National Review.

2004
2008

Buckley dies of complications from emphysema in his Stamford, Connecticut home on February 27. At the time of his death, he was working in his home office on another book about his conservative movement.

2008
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