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'Good Night, Sweet Prince'

An American Radio Journal tribute to William F. Buckley

by Colin Hanna

By Colin A. Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring, Inc.

Conservatism lost its most eloquent contemporary advocate this week with the passing of William F. Buckley, Jr. Although he was surely a master of the English language, he was more than that: he was a brilliantly clear thinker. Just as Winston Churchill is said to have "mobilized the English language" in World War II when England had little else beyond its language to mobilize, William F. Buckley mobilized the conservative movement for over half a century with his love of language, his wit, his irrepressibly good nature and his faith. Many of us use thesauruses. He could dictate them. Not only that, he would gently correct me by suggesting that the correct plural form of thesaurus is thesauri. And in my mind I can clearly see that distinctive twinkling of his eyes as he delivers his vocabulary lesson.

If we simply admire Buckley's command of language, however, we actually do the man a disservice, because we may obscure his real brilliance. He was both a clear thinker and a big thinker. Beginning with his first book, God and Man at Yale, through to his last column dictated rather than typed just a few days ago because a broken wrist kept him from being able to work the keyboard, it is his thinking not just his facility with words that will ensure his place in history. And "keyboard" is just the right metaphor for the typewriter or computer before which he sat, because in his hands, it was more an instrument than merely a tool, at times as gentle as Debussy, and at others roaring as a mighty Wurlitzer, sweeping aside the flotsam and jetsam of hollow liberalism like dry leaves before a great storm.

Yet behind this powerful command of the English language was a mind that was able to see a seamless garment of conservative thought that at once embraces the greatness of God, the consequent humility of man, and the civic virtues of liberty. There are no separate compartments in his philosophy, no separation between church and state, or between philosophy and politics, or between learning and working. They all fit together perfectly, in full harmony with the design of a God who both has a perfect plan for us and who wants us to be free to make our own choices.

It is thus entirely consistent with the man and his values that he was an excellent sailor. Unlike a powerboater, who can go where he wants merely by pointing the vessel and applying power, a sailor must harness the wind. It takes no particular talent to go with the wind, but to use the wind's own force to go against it takes skill, determination and a unique ability to work with and against the forces of nature at the very same time. And in the hands of a skilled sailor, that combination of talents is enough to take his boat around the world.

In much the same way, he prepared conservatism to transform not only domestic politics, but also international politics. Without William F. Buckley, there likely would have been no Barry Goldwater. And without Barry Goldwater, it is indisputable that there would have been no Ronald Reagan. And without Ronald Reagan, Soviet Communism might well have become the dominant political system in the world.

So let us not mourn the passing of William F. Buckley so much as we celebrate what he left us: an enduring view of the world, crafted with an elegance that rests upon the solid intellectual base not of man's fabrication, but rather of revealed truth. And let us say good bye to him with Horatio's words on the occasion of Hamlets death: "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"

This has been Colin Hanna of Let Freedom Ring for American Radio Journal. Please visit us on the web at www.LetFreedomRingUSA.com.