William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives (Paperback)

~ John B. Judis (Author) "In 1925, the year Bill Buckley was born, Calvin Coolidge, the dour New Englander known for his eighteenth-century apothegms, was just beginning his second term..." (more)
Key Phrases: revolt against the masses, conservative movement, National Review, New York, Soviet Union (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Judis, an editor of the newsmagazine In These Times, strives to draw a balanced, objective portrait of arch-conservative Buckley, whose politics he clearly deplores. The result is an equivocating, lobotomized biography, full of facts but lacking fire. Judis traces Buckley's "defensive clannishness," his arrogance and competitiveness to an overwhelming need for approval from his father, a Texas oil millionaire. He is careful to praise Buckley for his personal generosity, his purported tolerance of the 1960s counterculture and the way he distanced the conservatism of his National Review from segregationists and groups like the John Birch Society. Buckley's trajectory has been downward, as Judis defines it, from his role as self-appointed spokesman of the New Right, to his current status as an uninfluential media personality who still champions 1950s Cold War verities. First serial to Manhattan Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

$22.95. biog In this first book-length biography of Buckley, Judis, a journalist, capably traces his subject's intellectual and political peregrinations from "enfant terrible who fearlessly flayed the establishment" to celebrated member of the American ruling class. Judis credits patriarch William Sr. with shaping his son's basic beliefs, including the core conviction that Catholicism and anti-Communism are inextricably linked. He handles the chapters on the gestation and surprising success of the National Review especially well, and also Buckley's relations with Gary Wills, William Rusher, Gore Vidal, and President Reagan. He concludes that more than any other person, Buckley has defined modern conservative principles, but now at 63 has become "mellow and uninteresting." Kenneth F. Kister, Pinellas Park P.L., Fla.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743217977
• ISBN-13: 978-0743217972
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #353,469 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally Good, February 28, 2008

By	Christopher Grant (Salem, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's been ages since I read this book, but WFB's death yesterday has got me browsing through books by or about Buckley, and I was reminded how much I liked Judis's book. It's a pleasure (and seemingly so unusual nowadays) to get to read someone writing respectfully about someone with whom he strongly disagrees, whether it's the leftist Judis writing about Buckley, or Buckley himself writing moving obituaries of those on the left.

From the perspective of a WFB fan who finds hagiographies tiresome, this book was a real treat, and I recommend it highly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspired, April 14, 2008

By	Craig A. Swarts (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I couldn't disagree more with cxlxmx's review of this book. John Judis has written a remarkably interesting book about one of the most important figures in the history of modern conservatism. It would be fair to say that William F. Buckley was the most important figure in the political history of the Right, as he provided an intellectual infrastructure for right wing thought.

I read this book as part of a seminar I took in graduate school during the 90s, and fully expected to dislike William F. Buckley, given my own liberal politics. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Buckley played an important role in attempting to discredit the more crackpot elements within the Right, in particular, the John Birch Society. I was so intrigued by this idea, that I ended up writing my M.A. thesis on the Birch Society. This book was the original inspiration for my research.

Judis gives a fair and fascinating account of a very interesting and misunderstood figure. I would recommend this book to anyone, and I believe it is an excellent source for understanding how Conservatives captured control of the federal government during the Reagan years and maintained their grip on power into the present day.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buckley at 80, November 24, 2005

By	J. Jaeger (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great book; very objective, almost a love feast of fascinating Buckley quotes, but also very critical. I recommend Mr. Judis' biography of William F. Buckley, Jr. as a great way to understand the course of American conservatism in the last century, going strong into this one.