The Right Stuff

CULLEN MURPHY

The malignant condition of the political right in America has already made William F. Buckley Jr., who died in 2008, seem like an antique. The harpsichord-playing Lat in ist, who cherished Burke and Bach and friendships across ideological lines, was a bit of a throwback even in his prime—championing a conservatism that “stands athwart history, yelling Stop.” But as Alvin Felzenberg shows in this fine political biography, A Man and His Presidents (Yale), Buckley was far ahead of his time when it came to promoting his views: cross-pollinating every form of media, leveraging relationships behind the scenes, and blending all this with the allure of lifestyle (his own) and entertainment (that celebrated wit).…

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Vanity Fair (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2017

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