Nearly every conservative blogger has something to say about William F. Buckley Jr., who died yesterday morning at the age of 82. All agree that he had a profound impact on conservatism and the country--and that he was a profoundly great man.
Scott Johnson at Pajamas Media writes, "The death of William F. Buckley, Jr. deprives the modern American conservative movement of its founder, for Buckley was preeminently the founding statesman of the movement that gained its political expression first in Barry Goldwater and then Ronald Reagan. When Buckley founded National Review in 1955 at the age of 29, he lit the fire that sparked the movement."
More from Peter Suderman at the American Scene, who remarks, "He was not merely clever and smart; he was wise. Conservatism lost a great defender and advocate today, and the larger world of ideas and letters lost one of its greatest minds." And Captain Ed concludes, "Buckley will be missed, but his work will remain as lively and vibrant as ever. Few men and women can claim that kind of intellectual achievement and impact on society."
Yet Buckley, says John O'Sullivan, "took it all very humbly and even a little quizzically. It was as if he didn't quite believe that he had blown a trumpet and, lo, the walls of Communism had tumbled down -- 'literally,' to use a word whose misuse he occasionally denounced."
Buckley influenced many of our favorite bloggers, including Power Line's Paul Mirengoff, Blackfive's Uncle Jimbo, Hugh Hewitt, and Michelle Malkin, who says, "He was an engaged and engaging Renaissance man who joined conservatism and libertarianism, fought statism, and served the Lord."
The folks at National Review's blog The Corner have posted numerous tributes to their founder and former editor. Ramesh Ponnuru writes, "Bill's kindness and generosity of spirit really were remarkable. He was as interested in listening to the college senior to his left as to the former secretary of state to his right." And Mona Charen's tribute to "Bill's smile" is particularly touching: "Bill had the capacity to make everyone feel that they enhanced his life. If you ran into him on the staircase, he would make you think that you had just capped his day. It need hardly be said that few men are great. But even fewer great men are so good."
