THE CHARMING CONSERVATIVE

“It’s impossible to talk intelligibly about William F. Buckley Jr., without talking about his personality. Indeed, it’s far more important to talk about his personality than about his philosophy, which was anything but original. He was a journalist, not a systematic thinker, and in addition to his personal charm, his other special gift was the ability to popularize the ideas of others. The Brits call such folk ‘publicists,’ and Buckley was, if such a thing exists, a publicist of genius…”