Up from Liberalism

New York: Stein and Day, 1984. 25th Anniversary Edition. Presumed first printing thus. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xxiv, 234 pages. Footnotes. Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Foreword by John dos Passos. Originally published in 1959. New Reintroduction by the author. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 - February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual and conservative author and commentator. In 1955, Buckley founded National Review, a magazine that stimulated the conservative movement in the late-20th century United States. Buckley hosted 1,429 episodes of the public affairs television show Firing Line, where he became known for his transatlantic accent and overpowering vocabulary. Buckley wrote more than fifty books on diverse topics, including writing, speaking, history, politics, and sailing. Buckley referred to himself as either a libertarian or conservative. Buckley's primary contribution to politics was a fusion of traditionalist conservatism and classical liberalism; that fusion laid the groundwork for a rightward shift in the Republican Party. Derived from a Kirkus review: The author, one of the most articulate spokesmen for the Right, attempts here to discredit "doctrinaire Liberalism and plead the viability of enlightened conservatism". Who are the Liberals? Some typical Liberal public figures and institutions? Eleanor Roosevelt, James Wechsler, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Adlai Stevenson, the New Republic, St. Louis Post Dispatch, New York Post, most of the N.Y. Times. In dealing with such questions as: the legality of enforced desegregation, the activities of congressional committees, academic freedom, conformity on campus and various ramifications of the Welfare State, Buckley admits that the conservative position has not been adequately demonstrated and he indicts Old Guard Republicanism for its irrelevancy and Modern Republicanism for its pseudo-Liberalism. In the area of the controversial Buckley's intellectual agility and facility for impaling logical fallacy has already been established as provoking and/or provocative.