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The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan
The Crusader tells the fascinating life story of Pat Buchanan, the three-time presidential candidate, Nixon confidant, White House communications director during Iran-Contra, pundit, and bestselling author.Buchanan is one of America's most controversial conservative rebels. After serving Nixon and Reagan, he led a revolt against the Republican establishment that was a forerunner for the Tea Party. In 1992 he tried to take away his party's nomination from the incumbent president, George H. W. Bush. Although he lost, Buchanan set the tone for political debate for the next two decades when he declared a "cultural war" against liberalism and a jihad on Republican moderates. Throughout the 1990s, his radical, rollicking presidential campaigns tore apart the GOP and articulated the hopes and fears of a new generation of Middle American conservatives. This balanced, and often funny, biography explores the highs and lows of Buchanan's career, from his stunning victory in the 1996 New Hampshire primary to his humiliating "grudge match" against Donald Trump in the 2000 Reform Party contest. At its heart is a man who embodies the contradictions of the conservative a wealthy bookworm who branded himself as an everyman reactionary, a Republican insider who became a populist outsider, a patriarch whose campaigns were directed by his sister, a socially unacceptable ideologue who won the affection of liberals and conservatives alike—Rachel Maddow, Ralph Nader, Eugene McCarthy, Ron Paul, even Mel Gibson.Timothy Stanley tells the intimate story of the man who defined the culture war for a generation of Americans with outrage and wit; the man who, when asked what he thought about gun control, replied, "I think it's important to have a steady aim."
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 14, 2012
7 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Stanley
8 books11 followersTimothy Stanley, also listed as Tim Stanley, is a writer, journalist and broadcaster. He held fellowships in history at Sussex University and Royal Holloway before joining the Daily Telegraph as a columnist and leader writer. He regularly appears on Radio 4 discussing religion and morality, and has contributed to CNN, The Spectator and History Today.
His columns can be read on the Telegraph website: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/t...
His columns can be read on the Telegraph website: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/t...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 14, 2012
Why would a Brit who teaching American History at Oxford write a biography about one of the contentious individuals in American politics in the late 20th century? I cannot answer that question, but I have to say. this book stand out. I find too many books about American politics (especially those self-referentially written by the participants)unreadable. Dr. Stanley's, to my delight, was a wonderful read. This not a throw-away written-in-one month political potboilers; as one who obsessively reads footnotes (and therefore keep two bookmarks in any "serious" non-fiction book I am reading) Dr. Stanley certainly did his homework.
Moreover, I find, he has a better sense of American political life than most of the pundits in the media. I personally experienced the 1960s through 2000, during which Buchanan was first a behind-the-scenes participant and later up-front and uncomfortably in too many persons' face, and I always considered myself a well-informed educated person. But Stanley, with great insight, revealed to me that I really know little of anything about our national political scene.
My only regret is the book fairly stops at the year 2000, with Buchanan's sad attempt to run for president on Ross Perot's Reform Party ticket. Since 2000, Buchanan has been very much on the scene as a gadfly to both the Left sand the Right. He has produced at least five or six books in the past ten years that are certainly controversial.
I hope that at some point in the not too distant future, Dr. Stanley will write a "small" monograph to supplement The Crusader.
ADDENDUM: A friend asked me if I had read the book's final chapter. Certainly I had, and I felt it was a quick summary of the past decade. My impression was that one might conclude that Buchanan's career effectively ended in 2000. But on the last page, does not Kevin Phillips ask if Buchanan is going to run again in 2012? (Sadly, he is not, and we are left two parties who embrace the sane agenda, one which Buchanan fought against. Yet I only read today of Rachel Maddow's new book, that challenges and questions the necessity for America's bloated and gun-happy military! Maddow's "Uncle Pat" taught her well!
Moreover, I find, he has a better sense of American political life than most of the pundits in the media. I personally experienced the 1960s through 2000, during which Buchanan was first a behind-the-scenes participant and later up-front and uncomfortably in too many persons' face, and I always considered myself a well-informed educated person. But Stanley, with great insight, revealed to me that I really know little of anything about our national political scene.
My only regret is the book fairly stops at the year 2000, with Buchanan's sad attempt to run for president on Ross Perot's Reform Party ticket. Since 2000, Buchanan has been very much on the scene as a gadfly to both the Left sand the Right. He has produced at least five or six books in the past ten years that are certainly controversial.
I hope that at some point in the not too distant future, Dr. Stanley will write a "small" monograph to supplement The Crusader.
ADDENDUM: A friend asked me if I had read the book's final chapter. Certainly I had, and I felt it was a quick summary of the past decade. My impression was that one might conclude that Buchanan's career effectively ended in 2000. But on the last page, does not Kevin Phillips ask if Buchanan is going to run again in 2012? (Sadly, he is not, and we are left two parties who embrace the sane agenda, one which Buchanan fought against. Yet I only read today of Rachel Maddow's new book, that challenges and questions the necessity for America's bloated and gun-happy military! Maddow's "Uncle Pat" taught her well!
December 27, 2012
This is a great follow up to Buchanan's autobiography, Right from the Beginning, published in 1988. It details his political life and transformation from conventional Republican to true maverick (not pseudo-maverick, John McCain kind) in the party.
Timothy Stanley, the author, goes to great lengths in research to describe what transpired in Buchanan's three presidential runs. His writing is enjoyable and for a biography, it was a real page-turner. There are a few points where the details were a little too much but nevertheless it was great. I leaves one wondering what would have happened if Buchanan had been the Republican's candidate in 1996. I guess lost causes truly are the only one's worth fighting for.
Timothy Stanley, the author, goes to great lengths in research to describe what transpired in Buchanan's three presidential runs. His writing is enjoyable and for a biography, it was a real page-turner. There are a few points where the details were a little too much but nevertheless it was great. I leaves one wondering what would have happened if Buchanan had been the Republican's candidate in 1996. I guess lost causes truly are the only one's worth fighting for.
July 11, 2017
Pat Buchanan lost his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 92 and 96. He joined the Reform Party in 2000 and lost even harder. He found a way to win in his defeats, however, giving speeches, defining issues, and rallying a populist movement. In a lot of ways, Buchanan could seem to win without winning. Now, in 2017, with Trump carrying Buchanan's movement and lots of Buchanan's issues to the White House, Buchanan seems weirdly triumphant.
Timothy Stanley's book pre-dates Buchanan's return to relevance, but it's full of insight into the man who defined the kind of conservatism that wants to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, revive 1930s-style "America First" isolationism, embrace white grievances about "our culture" and promise to "take our country back." It's a very relevant book.
Stanley's analysis is a bit too quick in places. He misses some of the picture with the religious right (and how internal rifts, in the 90s, affected Buchanan's presidential bids) and he doesn't do enough to really explain Buchanan's political philosophy to a skeptical audience. Most readers, though, will appreciate the fast paced narrative. Stanley tells a good story about an important and under examined part of recent political history.
Timothy Stanley's book pre-dates Buchanan's return to relevance, but it's full of insight into the man who defined the kind of conservatism that wants to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, revive 1930s-style "America First" isolationism, embrace white grievances about "our culture" and promise to "take our country back." It's a very relevant book.
Stanley's analysis is a bit too quick in places. He misses some of the picture with the religious right (and how internal rifts, in the 90s, affected Buchanan's presidential bids) and he doesn't do enough to really explain Buchanan's political philosophy to a skeptical audience. Most readers, though, will appreciate the fast paced narrative. Stanley tells a good story about an important and under examined part of recent political history.
November 27, 2020
Am somewhat of a Buchanan aficionado so was worried this book wouldn't tell me anything I didn't know. And this is largely the case for the short chapters on the Nixon years (1966-74) which are supplanted by Buchanan's subsequent memoirs of that period. And I of course prefer reading Unnessecary War (2008) and Death of the West (2000) rather than Stanley's exegesis
But the book was still interesting, and focused most coverage on the three presidential bids which is the area I know the least about. I didn't know for instance that Sarah Palin made her career as a Buchanan brigadier or, in the opposite sense, that Buchanan inspired Rachel Maddow into journalism.
The book benefits from being published before the Trump-era, as the lazy comparisons with the former are thus avoided. A reaching comparison with the Tea Party is made towards the end, which is suitably caveated.
Onto Suicide of a Superpower and Republic not an Empire and some of the other books I haven't read.
But the book was still interesting, and focused most coverage on the three presidential bids which is the area I know the least about. I didn't know for instance that Sarah Palin made her career as a Buchanan brigadier or, in the opposite sense, that Buchanan inspired Rachel Maddow into journalism.
The book benefits from being published before the Trump-era, as the lazy comparisons with the former are thus avoided. A reaching comparison with the Tea Party is made towards the end, which is suitably caveated.
Onto Suicide of a Superpower and Republic not an Empire and some of the other books I haven't read.
April 20, 2023
The Crusader is a decent review of Buchanan's life and times. Stanley can be commended for being neither a critic nor a hagiographer (did learn a few discouraging things about Pat such as the treatment of his campaign staff). There are a lot of really cool anecdotes in here and, as it stands, this is the only real biography of Pat out on the market besides his autobiography.
But the crown is in the gutter. The book effectively ends in the early 2010's when it seemed Pat was out of gas, but so much of the story has come to the fore since then thanks to his old Reform Party primary opponent, Donald Trump (an interesting symmetry).
Worse still, Pat was an ideas man, and this book is rather light in the ideas department. Stanley breezes through his post-presidency career as an author, focusing mostly on Pat's idiosyncratic view of WWII. No doubt, it's an important part of Pat's thought but not the main reason why the Brigade still marches.
The definitive Buchanan biography is yet to have been written, but this book will have to do for now.
But the crown is in the gutter. The book effectively ends in the early 2010's when it seemed Pat was out of gas, but so much of the story has come to the fore since then thanks to his old Reform Party primary opponent, Donald Trump (an interesting symmetry).
Worse still, Pat was an ideas man, and this book is rather light in the ideas department. Stanley breezes through his post-presidency career as an author, focusing mostly on Pat's idiosyncratic view of WWII. No doubt, it's an important part of Pat's thought but not the main reason why the Brigade still marches.
The definitive Buchanan biography is yet to have been written, but this book will have to do for now.
January 8, 2020
This guy set the game plan for the Donald Trump election. A true populist and the first to take on the Evil Bush Regime. Through this book we found out that publicly Nixon was a moderate (no surpise) and privately Regan was a moderate (big surprise). Pat was a Christian warrior. South Carolina ruined his nomination chances by being truly anti-Catholic if you believe the polls and interviews. Instead we got Bob Dole. You couldn't pick a more elite production. Pat believes what he says and says what he believes. It inspired me but at the same time depressed me. The Crusader...Five Stars
January 25, 2026
Loved this book. Politics, recent history, biography. This book was finished in the early 2010s. What it couldn’t have predicted (although it did prophecy in several areas)is that Trump’s 2016 campaign was built at least in part on things Buchanan had campaign on in 92 and 96 in 2000. If you don’t like politics, you’ll hate this lol
January 3, 2020
A very good biography of an interesting public figure. It's well paced, especially considering how the narrative spans many decades.
October 4, 2020
Excellent bio of Pat Buchanan.
June 29, 2021
The life and times of a true forest gump of American politics. Buchanan has helped defined the culture war and has intelligently described the problems facing our country, from mass immigration to trade to endless wars. Buchanan wrote the America First agenda long before Trump but was, unfortunately, ahead of his time.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews