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Two Happy Warriors Were We
Now this was a beautiful friendship.
The Reagan I Knew
By William F. Buckley, Jr.
(Basic Books, 279 pages, $25)
When William F. Buckley died in February 2008, it was widely known that he had been working on a book about Ronald Reagan. He died before completing the task. The unfinished nature of the work is something that should be understood at the onset. It is quite clear that The Reagan I Knew runs short of a great deal of personal reflection by Buckley on the former president. There is simply no question about it.
The good news for readers is that the editorial team made skillful use of Buckley-Reagan correspondence and a series of footnotes to create a highly engrossing reading experience. Indeed, the book may have begun as the narrative story of a relationship with substantial personal reflection, but of necessity it became a successful collection of letters with a solid array of commentary by an author who pre-deceased his project’s completion.
Perhaps, first, the thing to note is the surprise the book offers. Though I have been a longtime fan of both Buckley and President Reagan, I had no idea the relationship between Nancy Reagan and Bill Buckley was so substantial. They exchanged many letters in which they talked about Ronald Reagan, their families, and a joking plan to run off together to Casablanca. Buckley seems to have had a great deal of personal affection for the former Nancy Davis.
On the other hand, Buckley’s letters to and from Ronald Reagan will add to the corpus of evidence supporting Reagan’s intellectual bona fides. They communicated with each other on a friendly and personal basis (with a running joke about Buckley’s fictitious appointment as ambassador to Afghanistan), but there is also much friendly disagreement and discussion about policy, personnel, and politics.
What one sees in the letters between the two great icons of 20th-century American conservatism is a conversation between equals. Buckley was not the Machiavellian manipulator liberals might have believed Reagan “the amiable dunce” needed. Instead, he was an ideological soulmate, a debate partner, and occasionally an opponent. These were two men working to the same end, but never shy to differ or to try to convince the other of their own position.
Reagan’s letters, in fact, show not the slightest intellectual intimidation before the mighty Ivy League debater Buckley. He was, instead, confident and strong. Reagan is often credited with dispatching Communism to the ash heap of history. This book will likely help dispatch something else to the ash heap, as well, which is the late night sketch comedy image of Reagan as a Forrest Gump-like lucky bumbler.
One of the strongest sections of the book deals with the two men’s differences over the fate of the Panama Canal. Buckley thought the United States should allow the Panamanians to control the canal as part of their sovereign territory, while Reagan insisted Americans should retain ownership and control. The conviviality of their debate on the Canal recommends it as a model for conservatives of today, who sometimes seem ready to split and create camps at the slightest provocation. Of course, the Buckley and Reagan of the 1970s were part of a rising movement, not guardians of an exhausted establishment. One moment in their televised debate is worth reproducing here, as it has been elsewhere:
The disagreement was real, but not a threat to the friendship. Buckley credited Reagan’s position on the Panama Canal treaty with helping him attain the presidency. During the rest of their lives together, the two men joked about their different positions. Buckley recalled driving up the Reagan driveway one evening for dinner to find a series of signs arranged Burma Shave style (in sequence) for his benefit. They read, “WE BUILT IT. WE PAID FOR IT. IT’S OURS.”
The Reagan I Knew is successful on several levels. For the reader who wants to relive the glory days of American conservatism, the material is here. Reagan’s rise goes from being improbable in Buckley’s eyes to seeming almost inevitable. It is also a wonderful thing to experience Reagan’s personality through his communications with Buckley. Based on what has often been said of Reagan, one doesn’t expect to find any close friends outside of his wife, Nancy. But here is Buckley, giving us the historical evidence of their warm friendship and inter-family ties. Buckley knew Reagan. The man he knew was warm, funny, a dedicated student and practitioner of American politics and public policy, and a born leader capable of brushing discouragements to the side.
In addition, we are reminded of Reagan’s steadfastness. He expresses his determination to stay the course while pursuing a revolutionary economic policy designed to revitalize the American economy. When Buckley indicates his concern about strategy, Reagan gently reassures him and reasserts what he intends to do. In hindsight, we see that Reagan’s determination and commitment paid off. He got what he wanted, radically cutting marginal tax rates and closing loopholes. The same dynamic applies to his foreign policy with the Soviets. He got what he wanted and did what he said he could do, even when everyone around him, even Buckley at times, was skeptical.
In the end, the reader is left glad that we had men like these during the times when we had them. At National Review’s 30th anniversary in 1985, Buckley offered the final remarks in tribute to President Reagan. The entire world still stood on the precipice of nuclear confrontation. Rather than bemoan the times he lived in, Buckley voiced his thanks that he had lived his sixty years as a free man in a free country and his hope that their sons would be able to do the same. I can’t speak for the sons of these great men. Both speak for themselves. But I do know that a great many of us are, as he hoped, “grateful that, at the threatened nightfall, the blood of their fathers ran strong.
About the Author
Hunter Baker is associate dean of arts and sciences and associate professor of political science at Union University. He is the author of The End of Secularism and winner of the 2011 Michael Novak Award. His personal website is www.hunterbaker.wordpress.com.
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ruth| 1.7.09 @ 6:28AM
Such a lovely read. We sure could use a Buckley and a Reagan right now.
Bill in NJ| 1.7.09 @ 9:07AM
These are the two men I admired most in the 80s. We're not likely to see their like again anytime soon.
Jeremiah| 1.7.09 @ 12:47PM
Now here's what I like to see --
Conservatives lionizing lions -- not prairie kittens.
Buckley was a great thinker. Even when I was a boy, I loved watching him on television eviscerating some poor liberal who thought he'd studied enough.
Buckley was also cultured: he loved literature, music, and art. He was the real thing.
Bob| 1.7.09 @ 1:31PM
Perhaps we should ask to see the policy letters Sarah Palin had with anyone considered to be educated. Hmmmm.... Another Reagan? NOT!!!
ruth| 1.7.09 @ 1:41PM
Unfortunately, on the left there is a dearth of good, thoughtful men such as Reagan and Buckley. Instead we have mental midgets like Blago and his ilk who are thoroughly corrupted.
Jeremiah| 1.7.09 @ 1:55PM
Ruth --
I don't think anyone on the "left" would mistake the governor of Illionois as a major leader or thinker.
We certainly have a dearth of effective political leaders (as the years since Reagan have proved); however, we have some powerful thinkers, writers, etc. They're just not featured in the media all that often.
Buckley was unusual because he was able to bring complicated ideas to a mass audience without dumbing them down.
I have to say, there aren't many people on the right capable of doing that. Brooks, whom Buckley esteemed highly, sometimes does, and there are other conservative writers worth reading, to be sure. I doubt any of them would claim Buckley's laurels.
ruth| 1.7.09 @ 4:40PM
Name them, Jeremiah.
Ammo Guy| 1.7.09 @ 4:44PM
Well, Jeremiah, I would submit to you the esteemed founder of the periodical that is the raison d'etre for this website...a certain R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. He has been at the helm of the American Spectator since 1967 and has been described as a modern-day H. L. Menken. Tom Wolfe said he was “the funniest political essayist in years”. Stick around here, you might learn something.
Alan Brooks| 1.7.09 @ 6:27PM
Now that WFB is gone, Krauthammer is tops in my book.
#2 is George F. Will
#3 is Victor Davis Hanson
Tom Wolfe is #1 artist.
Alan Brooks| 1.7.09 @ 6:32PM
my unfavorite is Dinesh Dsouza, with his cloying 'The End Of Racism'
erudite glossy jacketed condescending "conservative" prattle. For libs to put on their coffee table without reading it.
stmichrick| 1.7.09 @ 9:39PM
Hey Bob;
I've read some of what Sarah Palin has to say on energy issues and other topics. The kool-aid caricature you are buying into is bogus.
Like other successful conservatives/Republicans, being underestimated by pop culture is an indication of future success.
With a longer and successful track record in her state and by developing a public image not controlled by RINO consultants she may prove to be a formidable future national candidate.
ruth| 1.7.09 @ 9:47PM
Alan, did you survive the Ron Paul nuts on Klein's thread? CrazyTown.
Alan Brooks| 1.7.09 @ 10:30PM
jeez louise in a bottle!
Ruth,
the ron paul guys are as wacky as the guy my father invited over to dinner in 1966-- he talked about Tim Leary and then stared at the pattern on the tablecloth.
ruth| 1.7.09 @ 11:06PM
I just called them KKK members and they are freaking out--Pavlov's dog and all that. Just too easy.
Alan Brooks| 1.8.09 @ 12:07AM
and paul is just another flash in the pan.
who cares about Alan Keyes today?
ruth| 1.8.09 @ 12:14AM
Why are they so angry? Fear?
Jeff Anderson| 1.8.09 @ 12:27AM
Bob: "Perhaps we should ask to see the policy letters Sarah Palin had with anyone considered to be educated."
I'd bet that none of them are named 'Bob'.
Bob: "Hmmmm.... Another Reagan? NOT!!!"
RR, and WFB, as well as Thomas Jefferson, would have adored, admired, and much respected Sarah Palin. (And none of them would use the sophomoric "not!" at the end of their statements.
Osamas Pajamas | 1.8.09 @ 12:51AM
Reagan and Buckley, how lucky we were, to have had them among us!
ruth| 1.8.09 @ 1:32AM
I agree, Jeff, Sarah would have gotten along wonderfully with these two great men. Thomas Jefferson? You really reached back didn't you?
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