Person

Sam Tanenhaus

Related Excerpts

Know Your Enemy
Podcast
Know Your Enemy

A Complicated Man: William F. Buckley, Jr.

This conversation covers the life of William F. Buckley Jr. From his early years studying at the liberal-dominated Yale University to his career as a writer and media personality, Buckley's charismatic style helped foment a new brand of conservatism that shaped the politics of yesteryear and today alike.
William F. Buckley Jr. (far right) with his brother, New York senator James L. Buckley, Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater at National Review’s twentieth-anniversary celebration, New York City, November 1975

Conservatism’s Baton Twirler

A Republican administration that wages war against immigrants and colleges should be understood as the culmination of William F. Buckley conservative movement.
Brent Bozell and William F. Buckley, reading a book about Joseph McCarthy.

All In the Family

How William F. Buckley Jr. turned his father’s private convictions and prejudices into a major political movement.
William F. Buckley Jr. at his desk in 1965.

"A Practical Fanatic"

How William F. Buckley shaped modern conservatism through his organizational skills and charisma.
William F. Buckley during a press interview in Buenos Aires, Argentina, circa 1970s. (Alamy)

Steering Right

Sam Tanenhaus’s biography of William F. Buckley has certain limitations, but it captures the character of conservatism’s founding father.
William Buckley stands behind a podium, surrounded by a throng of people, and waves.

The Real Bill Buckley

Even some liberals toasted William F. Buckley Jr. as a patrician gentleman. A long-awaited new biography corrects that record.
William F. Buckley reclines behind a desk, glasses in hand, a bulletin board of National Review magazine material behind him.

The Conservative Intellectual Who Laid the Groundwork for Trump

The political vision that William F. Buckley helped forge was—and remains today—focused less on adhering to principles and more on ferreting out enemies.
William F. Buckley Jr. at a press conference.

An Implausible Mr. Buckley

A new PBS documentary whitewashes the conservative founder of National Review.
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What Is the Role of the Historian?

Rethinking the job of history — and the American Historical Association — after the veto of the Gaza “scholasticide” resolution.