Keeping the Tablets: Modern American Conservative Thought

by William F. Buckley Jr., Charles R. Kesler (Editor)

Essays discuss the history of conservatism, capitalism the New Right, political science, the welfare state, civil rights, foreign policy, Vietnam, communism, and leadership

Genres: Philosophy, History, Politics

469 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American author and conservative commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing style was famed for its erudition, wit, and use of uncommon words.

Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century," according to George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement. "For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with economic libertarianism and anti-communism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and US President Ronald Reagan.

Buckley came on the public scene with his critical book God and Man at Yale (1951); among over fifty further books on writing, speaking, history, politics and sailing, were a series of novels featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Buckley referred to himself "on and off" as either libertarian or conservative. He resided in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, and often signed his name as "WFB." He was a practicing Catholic, regularly attending the traditional Latin Mass in Connecticut.

Reviews

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I no longer consider myself a conservative politically, these essays are a valuable insight into the conservative mind circa the 1950s, a movement which had its apex with Ronald Reagan but has become ensnared in the culture wars since the late 80s. Worth the effort to read and ponder.