Did Bill Buckley Really Lead a Successful Revolution?

Did William F. Buckley Pave the Way for Trump?

Did William F. Buckley pave the way for Trump? While a new Buckley biography by Sam Tanenhaus suggests some parallels between the ideologue of Reagan Republicanism and its disrupter, they are from two different ages and worlds.

Tune In: The State of the Right, from Buckley to Trump

Every week in his columns for The Free Press, Matthew Continetti tries to make sense of the characters, factions, and dynamics on the American right. We launched Matt’s column shortly after Trump’s return to the White House, and let’s just say he hasn’t exactly been light on material.With a MAGA revolution underway in Washington, D.C., Matt has become a must-read. Over the past few months he has broken down everything from the foreign policy tri…

Did Bill Buckley really lead a successful revolution?

You can hear echoes of Buckley's early career in more than one MAGA crusader's rhetoric today. That's not a sign of a man who won.

Did William F. Buckley’s Conservative Project End in Failure?

Buckley's America - Lawyers, Guns & Money

1/21/1988 President Reagan meeting with William F Buckley in oval office Everyone wants to put everything wrong with today’s America on Trump and what passes for friends with that guy. Fair enough, but this all has major antecedents. We are living in the America Pat Buchanan envisioned, the America Phyllis Schlafly envisioned, the America Ed Meese envisioned. And the America William F. Buckley envisioned. In 1955, with the peak of McCarthyism h…

William F. Buckley Cemented the Conservative Movement’s Preoccupation with the Liberal Enemy

Sam Tanenhaus, author of Buckley (Penguin Random House, 2025). The UnPopulist illustration.Book ReviewFrom the early 1950s until the close of the millennium, William F. Buckley Jr. stood out as America’s preeminent conservative. The term “influencer” would be anachronistic, but Buckley was a leading conservative light on every platform of the day. He made his bones as a speaker, magazine founder, editor, television host and personality, novelist…