William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82

William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 82.

Although I have been interested in politics since junior high school, I never knew quite how to classify my own politics. I knew some things that I was not – some things I didn’t believe in. For one, I have never had much faith in group thinking or the “wisdom of the crowd”. For another, I have never had much time for middle men – people who place themselves between me and something or someone of value.

What does this have to do with Buckley’s death? Well, it was not until I started college that I sort of found my political footing, so to speak.

My early days at Central College were marked by a full year of trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life as a profession. At least two or three times a week, I visited the library’s periodical stacks to read about people who I regarded as successful, hoping to discern their success secrets. It was during these frequent “soul searching” sessions that I came across the National Review. This was like having a light turned on. At that time, the original George Bush was president and the original Iraq war was just getting underway. In a world that was changing rapidly and perhaps less certain than ever before, the logic and the pure thought and intellect that were apparent in the pages of National Review gave me a hopeful, positive outlook.

An antidote to the popular press of the time, National Review contained consistently well-crafted prose which was thoughtfully critical when necessary, but not in a cheap, populist way. Continued reflection on and examination of Buckley’s publication was like reading a map that revealed the details of my own political mind.

While it used to be hard to explain my own personal politics, it is easy now to tell people that I am most definitely a conservative, but more importantly, I think it is now easier for me to understand why that is true and what it means to be a conservative.

William F. Buckley Jr., Rest In Peace.

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