III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 466 

Honoring the life of William F. Buckley, Jr. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2008 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. VITTER, Mr. 

MCCONNELL, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. HATCH, Mr. ENSIGN, 

Mrs. HUTCHISON, and Mr. MCCAIN) submitted the following resolution; 

which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life of William F. Buckley, Jr. 

Whereas William F. Buckley, Jr. was born on November 24, 

1925, in New York City, the 6th of 10 children in a devoutly Catholic family; 

Whereas William Buckley studied at the University of Mexico 

before serving his country in the Army and then later 

graduating with a B.A. with honors (in political science, 

economics, and history) from Yale University in 1950; 

Whereas William Buckley worked briefly for the Central Intelligence Agency; 

Whereas, at the young age of 25, William Buckley published 

his first popular book entitled ‘‘God and Man at Yale’’; 

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•SRES 466 ATS 

Whereas William Buckley has since gone on to write more 

than 55 books and edit 5 more, which include ‘‘Let Us 

Talk of Many Things: the Collected Speeches’’, the novel 

‘‘Elvis in the Morning’’, and his literary autobiography, 

‘‘Miles Gone By’’; 

Whereas he has written more than 4,500,000 words across 

over 5,600 biweekly newspaper columns, ‘‘On the Right’’; 

Whereas William Buckley founded the popular and influential 

National Review magazine in 1955, a respected journal 

of conservative thought and opinion; 

Whereas William Buckley wrote in the first issue of National 

Review that in founding the magazine, it ‘‘stands athwart 

history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined 

to do so, or to have much patience with those who so 

urge it’’; 

Whereas William Buckley served as editor of National Review 

for 35 years from its founding in 1955 until his announced retirement in 1990 and as editor-at-large until 

his death on February 27, 2008; 

Whereas, in 1965, William Buckley ran for Mayor of New 

York City and received 13.4 percent of the vote on the 

Conservative Party ticket; 

Whereas William Buckley was host of the Emmy-award winning and long-running ‘‘Firing Line’’, a weekly television 

debate program with such notable guests as Barry Goldwater, Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, Ronald 

Reagan, and George H.W. Bush; 

Whereas the New York Times noted that ‘‘Mr. Buckley’s 

greatest achievement was making conservatism—not just 

electoral Republicanism, but conservatism as a system of 

ideas—respectable in liberal post-World War II America. 

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He mobilized the young enthusiasts who helped nominate 

Barry Goldwater in 1964, and saw his dreams fulfilled 

when Reagan and the Bushes captured the Oval Office’’; 

Whereas as well-known columnist George Will once said, ‘‘before there was Ronald Reagan there was Barry Goldwater, before there was Goldwater there was National 

Review, and before there was National Review there was 

William F. Buckley’’; 

Whereas William Buckley received the Presidential Medal of 

Freedom in 1991; 

Whereas William Buckley has received numerous other diverse awards, including Best Columnist of the Year, 

1967, Television Emmy for Outstanding Achievement, 

1969, the American Book Award for Best Mystery (paperback) for ‘‘Stained Glass’’, 1980; the Lowell Thomas 

Travel Journalism Award, 1989, the Adam Smith Award, 

Hillsdale College, 1996, and the Heritage Foundation’s 

Clare Booth Luce Award, 1999; 

Whereas William Buckley spent over 56 years married to the 

former Patricia Alden Austin Taylor, a devoted homemaker, mother, wife, and philanthropist, before her passing in April 2007; 

Whereas William Buckley passed away on February 27, 

2008, and is survived by his son, Christopher, of Washington, D.C., his sisters Priscilla L. Buckley, of Sharon, 

Connecticut, Patricia Buckley Bozell, of Washington, 

D.C., and Carol Buckley, of Columbia, South Carolina, 

his brothers James L., of Sharon, and F. Reid, of Camden, South Carolina, a granddaughter, and a grandson; 

Whereas William Buckley is recognized as a towering intellect, a man who, in the words of Ronald Reagan, ‘‘gave 

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the world something different,’’ and, most of all, a true 

gentleman who encountered everything he did with grace, 

dignity, optimism, and good humor: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the life of William F. Buckley, Jr. 

3 for his lifetime commitment to balanced journalism, 

4 his devotion to the free exchange of ideas, his gentle5 manly and well-respected contributions to political 

6 discourse, and his extraordinary positive impact on 

7 world history; 

8 (2) mourns the loss of William F. Buckley, Jr. 

9 and expresses its condolences to his family, his 

10 friends, and his colleagues; and 

11 (3) respectfully requests the Secretary of the 

12 Senate to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolu13 tion to the family of William F. Buckley, Jr. 

Æ 

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