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William F.
Buckley, Jr.:
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Anti-Communist and Literary Giant
In 1962, Buckley dissuaded the Yale
Political Union from bringing Communist
Party U.S.A. head, Gus Hall, to campus,
explaining, “We can no more collaborate
with him to further the common
understanding than Anne Frank could have
collaborated with Goebbels in a dialogue
on race relations.”
The great conservative thinker William
F. Buckley, Jr., died in his study
Wednesday, February 27, 2008. Since
1955, Buckley’s biweekly journal
National Review has been a mainstay
for anyone concerned about American
political and cultural development. He
will be sorely missed.
Hated
Communist Ideology
According
to Rich Lowry, editor of the National
Review, “Buckley was an
anti-Communist to the marrow of his
bones, whose lifelong mission was to
crush Marxist totalitarianism.” Lowry
points out that while there were many
“roots” of WFB’s hatred of communism,
such as his father’s being a committed
anti-communist and his Catholicism’s
rendering him a “natural foe” of
atheistic Marxism, WFB’s strongest root
of communist hatred grew in his “belief
that the individual is paramount and can
flourish only in freedom.”
WFB
reviled the deadening conformity of
communism. He believed strongly that
mankind had the right to live free and
enjoy his own individuality. Buckley
asserted that “Without freedom, there is
no true humanity.” He insisted that by
eliminating freedom in a society,
communism revealed that its greatest
passion was “to eliminate man.”
Deep
Faith in Individuality
But WFB
had deep abiding faith in the desire for
individuality and freedom that resides
in the heart of mankind. When Nikita
Khrushchev visited the United States in
1959, Buckley declared:
“Khrushchev cannot take permanent
advantage of our temporary disadvantage,
for it is the West he is fighting. And
in the West there lie, however encysted,
the ultimate resources, which are moral
in nature. In the end, we will bury
him.”
This
prophecy, of course, was a rejoinder to
Khrushchev’s arrogant declaration that
his communist regime would bury the
United States. Buckley turned out to be
a prophet, indeed, with some help from
another virulent anti-communist,
President Ronald Reagan.
Literary
Giant as well as Political Thinker
In 2004,
Norman Podhoretz, a great thinker and
literary giant himself, introduced WFB
at the Center for Security Policy’s
event honoring Buckley with the
“Mightier than the Sword” award.
Podhoretz
offered one of his favorite passages of
Buckley’s sparkling prose; it is worth
experiencing it in its entirety, because
the passage demonstrates why the many
outpourings of affection and respect for
WFB have been forthcoming:
... if
there were nothing to complain about,
there would be no post-Adamite mankind.
But complaint is profanation in the
absence of gratitude. There is much to
complain about in America, but that
awful keening noise one unhappily gets
so used to makes no way for the bells,
and these have rung for America, are
still ringing for America, and for this
we are obliged to be grateful. To be
otherwise is wrong reason, and a
poetical invitation to true national
tribulation. I must remember to pray
more often, because providence has given
us the means to make the struggle, and
in this respect we are singularly
blessed in this country, and in this
room.
The
passage reveals the depth of thought,
courage, and his deep love of God that
served Mr. Buckley so well in his
well-lived life.
For more
information about WFB:
National Review
Rich Lowry’s “Gratitude”
Norman Podhoretz |
