William F. Buckley, Jr. and his wife Patricia had a brazen, but loving relationship. The two “annoyed each other intensely and absolutely adored each other.” They held grand parties at their home with many distinguished guests.
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- [Jeff] She, I always thought, was a character out of a Noel Coward play.
I mean, nobody talks that way.
Pat would say, "Duckie, are you going to smoke one of those awful communist cigars?"
- And Bill said, "Duckie, I adore you, and you're totally right," and does whatever he is about to do.
- [Peter] They annoyed each other intensely and absolutely adored each other.
And I made some joke to Bill about what's the secret to marriage?
And Bill said, "Preemptive capitulation."
- [Christopher] My mother, my dear, glamorous, chic and stunning mom, served her time as a galley slave on those Maine cruises that we would go on.
Imagine a 38 foot sailboat, six men, one woman.
She'd be cooking for us, scrubbing the toilet, and she would mutter darkly, "I was made for better things".
(laughing) - [Jeff] It was wonderful to go to a party at the Buckley's.
You had political figures, yes.
You could also meet the King of Greece one night, some writer or singer the next.
- [Peter] I can remember at dinner in San Francisco with Milton Friedman.
There were four or five of us around the table, Milton said to the whole table, "What was Bill's greatest attribute?
What was his greatest talent?"
And of course, somebody said, "He was an essayist."
And somebody else said, "He was a television personality."
And Milton then said, "You're wrong.
You're all wrong.
Bill Buckley's greatest talent was for friendship."
