The Right Side Of The Road

On April 13, 1945, as the flag-draped coffin of Franklin Delano Roosevelt proceeded from Georgia to Washington, William F. Buckley, Jr., a young member of the armed forces, was tapped for the deceased leader’s honor guard. A great liberal icon had passed, and in his final tribute stood a man destined to become a great conservative icon. The poetry of the movement, though then-unknown, was as profound as the ultimate, indelible legacies left behind by both men.

Today those legacies, while certainly things of the present, both reflect men of the past, as Mr. Buckley has died at the age of 82.

One of the most influential intellects of his generation, Mr. Buckley is to be remembered chiefly as the founder of National Review and principal architect of the modern conservative movement. His prose, oftentimes as radical as eloquent, served to elevate not just right-leaning ideals but the loquacious cause itself. Indeed, in a world where political columnists are too often masters of one art form at the expense of the other, Mr. Buckley personified a diversified command of both the English language and the ideas for which it stands.

A modern renaissance man, the National Review founder was, too, a CIA operative under E. Howard Hunt, a competitive sailor, a performance musician, and a world-class orator. His spy novels doubtlessly derived at least in part from his time with the Agency, just as his political theory doubtlessly matured with his refined undertakings.

Indeed, the totality of Mr. Buckley’s life work is far too great for any obituary or tribute to do justice. Likewise, his legacy is far richer than any one, tangible product – it is something that lives on in the many people and institutions that he touched, including the very cause of conservatism itself.

And so, as we try to comprehend the complex political impact of Mr. Buckley, it is perhaps only fitting to reflect upon an April day over 60 years ago, when we mourned the loss of a similarly profound American icon.

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