Bill Buckley: The Godfather of Modern Conservative Media - Pt 1

Over the past three weeks I have posted links to articles and a few paragraphs of commentary on current events (mainly the dramatic re-shaping of the Democratic presidential race into a straightforward duel between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders). But since February 12 I have not posted anything related to “Struggle for Peace”—mainly because of competing professional demands, but also because of my having paused to read two biographies and a number of essays about William F. Buckley, Jr., arguably the single most important figure in the rise of modern conservatism (aka “movement conservatism” or the “New Right”) and assuredly the most important figure in the rise of modern conservative media.

Buckley’s main significance lies in his founding of National Review in 1955 and the editorial genius with which he quickly shaped it into the premier journal of conservative opinion. I’ll have a lot more to say about that later. But for now I will limit myself to a discussion of Buckley’s 1968 televised duel with Gore Vidal—a terrific historical novelist, sometime social critic, and world class bitch. It’s the subject of a brilliant 2015 documentary entitled “Best of Enemies: Buckley vs Vidal.”

In 1968 the ABC television network was close to being a joke, especially with regard to its news division, which scarcely anyone watched. It ranked third among the major networks (the others being CBS and NBC) only because there wasn’t a fourth network. So when it came to coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions that year the ABC news division decided that to attract a viewership it needed a gimmick. The producers hit upon the idea of inviting Buckley and Vidal to comment on the conventions in a series of ten debates. The stunt served its primary purpose, that of boosting ratings, but in substantive terms the two pundits—who cordially despised each other—largely ignored their mandate and spent most of their air time engaging in what amounted to mutual character assassination, with Buckley at one point threatening--on live TV--to punch Vidal "in the goddam face."

Watching the extensive excerpts from the debates was eye-opening. Hitherto I had supposed that Buckley was erudite, quick-witted, and thoughtful. He was really only the first two. The debates amply illustrated what I have since discovered from other sources: Buckley was nothing remotely like a public intellectual. In fact, despite his addiction to five dollar words, he was basically anti-intellectual—far more emotional than cerebral. He offered little in the way of a coherent political philosophy; engaged in sweeping, caricatured, frequently absurd generalizations about the liberal world view; and excelled in acid put downs of anyone with whom he disagreed.

In that sense it is really no wonder that when Rush Limbaugh first hit the big time, Buckley swiftly took him under his wing: They were not an odd couple but rather kindred spirits. The main difference between them was that Buckley could exude a weird charm even while eviscerating a guest on “Firing Line,” his long-running program on PBS. Charm is not a word one associates with El Rushbo.