Who Is William F. Buckley?

            My VIP for this week is William F. Buckley who published an important book about American conservatism and the battle of ideas in 1951. Regnery Books recently released a 70^th anniversary edition of his “God and Man at Yale.” According to Timothy Goeglein, Buckley’s writing “proved to be prophetic and long-lasting.” 

The indefatigable William F. Buckley was a devoted Catholic who felt that religion and faith were absolutely the foundations of higher education, both at Yale, which he attended from 1946 to 1950, and in our nation. He saw that they were coming under increasing attack, and felt strongly that he had to sound the alarm about what was happening at Yale and which was beginning to seep out in the hallowed halls of higher education across America – the rejection and replacement of those ideals with secularism, socialism, and government dependence.

He also saw that with the left there was no room for debate. As he put it, “Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view.” Those words turned out to be prophetic as we face the “cancel culture” of the 21^st century.

In “God and Man at Yale,” the estimable Buckley peeled back the layers of the onion at Yale University and exposed its leftist core. As Richard Brookhiser wrote, “Yale in 1951 still pretended to be a bastion of capitalism and Christianity; Bill told the world this was a con, to keep alums sending their sons and their money to New Haven.”

Unfortunately, more than 70 years later, we have all seen that what started in New Haven did not stay in New Haven. While “God and Man at Yale” served as the launching pad for the conservative movement, much of America remained blissfully ignorant of what was happening to their children as they entered the ivory towers of American academia.

            Bill Buckley was an intelligent man who saw what was happening in America long before most people. He holds the title of being the first conservative in our day, long before Rush Limbaugh started his radio program.