NEW YORK (Reuters) - Writer and commentator William F. Buckley, a witty and patrician intellectual who helped found the modern conservative movement in U.S. politics, died on Wednesday. He was 82.
Buckley suffered from emphysema over the past year and died early on Wednesday while writing in his study in Stamford, Connecticut, said Jack Fowler, publisher of National Review, the magazine Buckley founded in 1955.
Buckley is credited with influencing the views of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. He was a leading voice in the conservative political movement that helped to send a Republican to the White House in seven of the past 10 U.S. presidential elections.
"Great man, great leader. Great conservative ahead of his time, articulate and entertaining," said U.S. Sen. John McCain, the probable 2008 Republican presidential candidate.
Buckleys blend of anti-Communism and traditional views on social issues such as abortion came to dominate American conservative thought. He packaged his opinions with charm and an erudite tone that made him a hero on the right. However some on the left saw him as smug and pompous.
The late historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. called Buckley "the scourge of liberalism," which is said to have caused Buckley great delight.
"Its this simple. No Buckley, no conservative movement," Fowler said. "He created the conservative movement. I dont think anybody else had the charm and talent to pull this off. And its a monumental achievement. He created a major political movement that has profoundly shaped America and the world."
Buckley carried the title of Editor-at-Large of National Review and was the author of more than 40 books including the recently published "Let Us Talk of Many Things: The Collected Speeches" and the novel "Elvis in the Morning."
SKEWERED LIBERALS
He was perhaps best known as the host for more than 30 years of the television show "Firing Line," where he skewered liberals with a smile, often while staring down at the camera with reading glasses balanced on the tip of his nose. His use of long words sent many viewers to the dictionary.
In 1965 he ran for mayor of New York City and won 13.4 percent of the vote on the Conservative Party ticket.
His newspaper column, "On the Right," was syndicated to more than 300 newspapers, according to the National Review.
"Bill was incontestably the principal founder of the modern American conservative movement and had therefore a tremendous influence on the whole second half of the 20th century in the United States and in the world," said William Rusher, publisher of National Review from 1957 to 1988.
"He was in personal terms an utterly charming person (with) an infectious love of life," Rusher said.
According to Rusher, Buckley "did finally take the position that the war in Iraq was a mistake, that we should not have gone in ... but that did not turn him against (President George W.) Bush or the conservative movement."
Buckley graduated with honors from Yale University in 1950 with degrees in political science, economics and history.
His wife Pat Buckley, a high profile fixture on New Yorks social and fashion scene, died last year. They had been married since 1950.
Their son Christopher Buckley is a well-known political satirist and comic writer. He is the author of "Thank You for Smoking," which was made into a popular movie in 2006. (Additional reporting by Adam Tanner, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Alan Elsner)
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