William F. Buckley Jr., one private memory

The nation's political scene, as it stumbles through another leap year party nominating process, has all the trappings of a fully functioning democracy -- the banners and bunting, the overheated rhetoric, and hyperbole, the scientifically-sculpted, carefully-uttered campaign message phrases, the feigned outrage and pointed fingers for the cameras' benefit.

This process also has stale, divisive and short-term political strategies that cause and exacerbate, rather than relieve, turmoil and frictions. Proposed policies aplenty. But real, new ideas seem dessicated.

From that well-televised scene in recent years, William F. Buckley Jr., a fountain of ideas who led two generations of conservative political thinking, had left New York, sold his beloved sailboat and settled into his packed study in Sharon, Conn., to intensely compose letters, columns and books, of which he's written 55.

In that sacred private place, he thought and wrote and coughed in the short raspy breaths of emphysema and endured the regimen of diabetes, either of which could have killed him Wednesday at 82. Buckley, who was widowed last spring, was found by a cook, at his desk, where, despite the pain and short breath, he would write every day, including his last.

With a Barry Goldwater book due out this spring, Buckley was within two months of finishing a book on Ronald Reagan with his sights set on another; ironically, a collection of the 450 graceful obituaries he wrote for the magazine he founded in 1955, National Review. There, he displayed his famous wit, announcing one week after Lyndon Johnson's inauguration in 1965 that he'd lost patience with that administration. He was also famous as a sesquipedalian, someone who routinely uses long words like that.

To a generation that finds the Bee Gees ancient history, Buckley must seem a strange duck. Well-educated, well-read, well-spoken, wealthy, he almost single-handedly cradled the modern conservative movement in the early post-World War II years.

Then, through the '50s and '60s, he drove it with the power of his spoken and written words, enduring the painful but formative 1964 candidacy of Goldwater, the last Arizona Republican nominee, which ...

created a generation of committed conservatives who finally came to power and influence within the ideas of Reagan and Bush I. When asked what job he wanted in the Reagan administration, Buckley replied "ventriloquist."

You can read about his life and writings here and here. And there's a photo gallery here.

Mine is a more personal memory that began with a phone ringing unexpectedly in my Tokyo home around 1977. The caller had that distinctive, erudite Buckley vocabulary, a wisp of a Southern accent and patient cadence, as if... he... spoke... slowly... to... kindly... allow.. me time to grasp his meaning.

Buckley, concluding a long Asian trip, wondered if I could tutor him in Japanese politics that evening in exchange for a dinner at his hotel. Me, teach William F. Buckley Jr. about politics. I said I thought I could squeeze him into my otherwise impossible schedule.

I assumed he called because of my newspaper employer, but he soon displayed a writer's heart and a wide knowledge of my past articles, even recalling our brief meeting in Milwaukee five years before after a taping of his PBS "Firing Line," which became the longest-running TV program ever with the same host.

For a television personality, Buckley was a remarkably good listener. But as the long evening and early hours quickly passed and his tie came down and he proffered cigars, I turned the questioning around. He talked of contemporary politicians and the ones from before. But not critically. There were disagreeable ideas and policies but, surprisingly, no enemies.

And then his eyes lit up and he smiled. He wanted to share a recent story about "a dear friend." That dear friend, again surprisingly, was Hubert H. Humphrey, the former pharmacist, Minneapolis mayor, Minnesota senator and vice president whose liberal politics were about as far from Buckley's as Tokyo from Connecticut.

Buckley was famous for skewering liberals like Humphrey during the 1,504 episodes of his TV show, recalling on-air to one famous New York Democrat how many times he'd been on "Firing Line." And then, adding, "Tell me, Mark, have you learned anything?"

Humphrey was called "the Happy Warrior" for his endless enthusiasms and energies to fix things. He had returned to the Senate after being personally crushed by his defeat at the hands of Richard Nixon and Humphrey's own badly-fractured Democratic Party in the antiwar violence, assassinations and political violence of 1968.

As Buckley talked that evening, the world silently knew that Humphrey was dying from cancer, slowly and surely. But the Minnesotan wouldn't let on.

Buckley had been on a recent flight from New York to Britain, he said. The in-flight movie projector had broken so he was reading, legs crossed, Santa Claus spectacles perched on his nose. When, abruptly, a noisy ruckus erupted behind and above him.

Buckley wheeled and there, coat off, sleeves rolled up, he saw Hubert H. Humphrey mounting a ladder and inserting himself into the broken projector situation and the aircraft's ceiling, muttering constantly to himself while he tried to fix the balky machine, without success as it turned out. "That's Hubert," Buckley thought with affection.

A flight attendant approached. She said the captain was a fan and was inviting Buckley into the cockpit to watch the landing in the London night. Buckley recalled being awed by the scene approaching ahead, the horizon aglow from the ancient city, the modern airport closer with all the lights, some flashing, many colored as the giant plane slowly descended through the darkness toward the earth.

Suddenly, the cockpit door flew open. "Bill!" shouted the senator. "What are you doing in here? Why wasn't I invited? What's going on? Oh, my goodness! Bill, will you look at that sight? Isn't that beautiful? Oh, my. Look!"

And, Buckley recounted, instead of the outside scenery, he ended up that night in the dark cockpit watching instead his dying friend in admiration, still excited, still himself, exulting at the world's beauty as he came down slowly for a landing at the end of a long trip.

Then, Buckley looked at me and took a sip of his drink. "I hope at the end," he said, "I come in for my last landing the same way."

I think he did.

-- Andrew Malcolm

                                                             Photo: Frank Franklin II / Associated Press

Comments

[A. Bruno]

Your article was beautifully written about Mr. Buckley. It capsulated the very long career of an intelligent and extremely articulate man and at the same time let us see through your eyes the human side of him. In a small way Mr. Buckley seemed to have envied Mr. Humphrey's sometimes boyish enthusiasm about life and at the same time had tremendous respect for him. Mr. Buckley leaves behind a universe of knowledge that I hope will be tapped into by many more people, including myself.

[Robert Stein]

Lovely story. At the other end of the scale is his TV encounter as a network commentator with his liberal doppelganger, the elegant novelist and playwright Gore Vidal.

They ended a dispute on some minor point by calling one another "a pro crypto Nazi" and "a queer." Buckley won the argument by warning Vidal, "Stop calling me a crypto Nazi or I'll sock you in your goddam face..."

As Tom Wolfe might say, A Man in Full.

http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2008/02/william-f-buckley-jr.html

[Steve Hart]

So, yet another conservative master debater passes into the Great Unknown.

[Lost in Pearlblossom]

For those of us too young to recall Mr. Buckley, is there a book or a collection of writings that would be best to read?

(Go back to the item above to the paragraph beginning: You can read about his life etc. There are 4 separate links in there to full obituaries with great detail, a photo gallery and one link goes to a complete list of his books. Thanks for the question and for reading here. Hope to see you back regularly.)

[Elizabeth McCrea]

That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing your memories of such a great man.

[wallace]

A wonderful remembrance of an amazing career. Well done. I think we forget that we're all here on this planet for only a few moments in time, and while we all love to talk and talk and talk it's really how we live that says it all.

Of course, the Ron Paul followers are only on this earth for a short period of time. The giant spaceship is picking them up out back in 15 minutes...

[Allen]

Thank you for sharing your memory of the great WFB.

[Scott]

Well done.

[helen]

Your blog post just made me cry. I'm too young to remember Humphrey and
always found Buckley tiresome, but that was simply lovely and brought
them both to life for me. Thanks.

[Rob Stutzman]

Andrew, the Buckley post was breathtaking! Thank you and bravo.
Regards,

Rob Stutzman

[Anthony]

That was one of the most personally touching obituaries I've ever read. You brought him back so alive.
Thank you.

[Mike]

A very nice story about one of the great intellectual giants of the world during the second half of the 20th century.

[Ron Espeseth]

I grew up with Goldwater supporting parents and a very liberal Kennedy supporting grandmother. I understood why my parents liked WFB. What your posting sheds light on is why someone like my grandmother couldn't help but watch Firing Line. She just chuckled AND complained the whole time it was on, but she rarely missed a broadcast.

[gaily]

Andrew - Your remembrance recalls Mr. Buckley to all who knew and admired him. It is every bit as gracious and lovely as the man himself. Thank you!

(Thank you. Unfortunately, you sometimes don't appreciate everything until someone is gone. So figured I'd just share it with the crowd here. Was not easy to write. But glad I did. Thanks again for taking the time to leave a comment.)

[Doug]

I will really miss not being able to understand the writings of William F. Buckley.

[Nicholas Romero]

Thank you for this touching and personal tribute to Mr. Buckley. He was a sesquipedalian of the highest order and continues to be a hero and inspiration to me.

To answer the question posed by "Lost in Pearlblossom," I found "Miles Gone By" to be a fantastic collage of his writings, capturing the numerous elements of life he enjoyed. The obituaries in it are crushingly beautiful.

[Reader]

A beautiful article. It moved me, thank you. I think Mr. Buckley would be proud.

(Thank you. It was fascinating to live it. And moving it to write it after the sad news. I'm delighted that came across. Appreciate you visiting us and taking the time to express your feelings.)

[Nigel Holmes]

bombastic, snide, elitistic, egomaniacal, casuistic, antilogical, and finally dead...something modestly desirable has actually gone right this week, all by itself.

[tower defense]

I think we forget that we're all here on this planet for only a few moments in time, and while we all love to talk and talk and talk it's really how we live that says it all.

[Oyun]

I will really miss not being able to understand the writings of William F. Buckley.