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Article: William F. Buckley Jr.: catalyst for conservatism
- Article from:
- Human Life Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Human Life Foundation, Incorporated Winter 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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His sparkling wit and trenchant analysis made him an institution in American political life.
It may be difficult for anyone coming of age in the post-Reagan era to fully appreciate the monochromatic character of American political culture during the first three and half decades after World War II.
Liberalism was the default position of most politicians, pundits, journalists, all academics, and most voters whose formative memories were the Great Depression and the New Deal. Even Republican presidents toed the line. It was Richard Nixon who claimed, "We are all Keynesians now." In 1950 the great liberal intellectual and critic, Lionel Trilling, viewed the fact that there were no conservative ...