Buckley : the life and the revolution that changed America / Sam Tanenhaus.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tanenhaus, Sam, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buckley, William F., Jr., 1925-2008.

Buckley, William F.

Conservatives--United States--Biography.

Conservatives.

Journalists--United States--Biography.

Journalists.

Conservatism--United States--History--20th century.

Conservatism.

United States--Politics and government--20th century.

United States.

Genre:

Biography.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 1018 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Life and the revolution that changed America

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, [2025]

Summary:

"At age 25 in 1951, with the publication of 'God and Man at Yale,' a scathing attack on his alma mater, William F. Buckley, Jr. instantly seized the public stage--and commanded it for the next half century, leading a new generation of activists and ideologues to the heights of political power while he himself attained unique fame and public influence. Ten years before his death in 2008, Buckley chose prize-winning biographer Sam Tanenhaus to tell the full story of his life and times, granting him extensive interviews, entrée to his intimate circle, and unrestricted access to his most private papers. Thus began a deep investigation into the vast and often hidden universe of Bill Buckley and the conservative revolution. Buckley vividly captures its subject in all his facets and phases: founding editor of National Review, best-selling novelist and memoirist, jet-setting clubman and socialite, downhill skier and sailboat racer, wisecracking candidate for mayor of New York, flamboyant antagonist of James Baldwin and Gore Vidal, mentor and idol to hundreds who today populate the worlds of politics and media. Tanenhaus also reveals the private and at times secret life of Bill Buckley: his backstage collaborations with Senator Joseph McCarthy and Watergate felon Howard Hunt; thorny relationships with Presidents Nixon and Reagan; flirtations with financial ruin and legal censure--and, late in life, Buckley's lonely struggle to hold together a movement coming apart over AIDS, the culture wars, and the invasion of Iraq. Majestic in its sweep, lushly detailed, rich in ideas and argument, packed with news and revelations, Buckley is the definitive account of an American giant and the revolution he led"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

I: Prodigy in the making (1925-1951). Connecticut yanquis

Devotions and blasphemies

Tutorials

A righteous cause

Invoking the rules

Inactive duty

Full stride

Causes lost and found

Chairman Bill

"We need a brigade of intellectuals"

An almost perfect match

Hearts and minds

II: At odds with his time (1951-1960). Low company

Closing ranks

Binges

Out of exile

Radical conservatives

Sounding the trumpet

Camden in black and white

Vestigial heat

"The South must prevail"

Turning the wheels

Life support

Saving the republic

Young Americans

III: Buckley's revolution (1961-1965). New frontiers

An amazing man

Freedom fighters

Gnostics at the Garden

The politics of murder

Open revolt

Slippery slopes

Buckley for mayor

IV: Controlling the message (1966-1974). Fire and ice

"The most viable candidate"

Under siege

Evening the score

Shakespeare's bard

War crimes

"Is there nothing left of us?"

"The sweat of idealism"

Playing with dynamite

Weak and devious men

Seductions

V: Last campaigns (1974-2008). Blue collar vs. blue blood

Fights and flights

Quiet groves

"We have a nation to run"

Dissipations

Mind of winter.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [869]-980) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Tanenhaus, Sam. Buckley

ISBN:

9780375502347

0375502343

OCLC:

1444155811