A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr. by Alvin S. Felzenberg

Author:Alvin S. Felzenberg [Felzenberg, Alvin S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780300163841
Google: SmifDgAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0300163843
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2017-01-15T00:37:13.225000+00:00

11

“LET THE MAN GO DECENTLY”

The rapport Nixon had worked so hard to establish and maintain with the responsible American Right began to rupture in January 1971, when, after an interview with the three networks, he declared himself a “Keynesian” on economic matters. In subsequent commentary, Buckley listed a series of Nixonian deviations from conservative orthodoxy. The President had taken the United States off the gold standard, committed himself to a policy of “full employment,” increased federal spending on entitlements and other programs, and brought into being a series of new policy initiatives, agencies, and regulations. Nixon was an early backer of the newly established Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Title 9, and the “Philadelphia Plan” (a measure to assure hiring and promotion of African Americans in the building trades), which was a forerunner of “affirmative action” in other hiring. In mid-1971, Nixon committed the greatest heresy of all in the eyes of the Right when he imposed wage and price controls.1

Nixon did not limit his offenses to domestic matters. On July 15, he surprised and antagonized much of the Right when he announced that he would visit the People’s Republic of China the following winter. Buckley was so angered at the news that he found something nice to say about his family’s nemesis, Franklin D. Roosevelt, at Nixon’s expense. FDR never offered to visit Nazi Germany, Buckley said in a column. He went on to call the People’s Republic China the “home of terror, slaughter, sadism, xenophobia, and guile.”2 He was just warming up. Buckley would return to this theme with a vengeance once Nixon embarked on his historic journey.

While he objected to all of these policies, Buckley supported the administration in other areas. Outraged that Daniel J. Ellsberg, a government official with access to classified information, had “leaked” documents detailing the history of U.S. involvement in South Vietnam to the press (“the Pentagon Papers”) and that the New York Times and the Washington Post would publish them, Buckley worked his way into the story in the summer of 1971. He published in National Review what he said were memos that had been part of the original document dump. Several newspapers reported on National Review’s alleged scoop. Within days, Buckley admitted that the exercise had been a hoax intended to satirize the media and its fixation on making Ellsberg a hero. Not amused, several newspapers dropped his syndicated column. “Well, I am down to 348 papers,” Buckley sighed.3

Meanwhile, the breach between Nixon and the Right continued to widen. In July 1971, Buckley convened a meeting of conservative leaders at his Manhattan residence to discuss their unhappiness with the administration.4 Calling themselves “the Manhattan Twelve,” the participants released a statement in which they “suspended” support for the Nixon administration. While they said they were not at this time encouraging formal political opposition to Nixon, they would keep their options open. Buckley used his special standing within the conservative movement to tone down the militant rhetoric of his colleagues.

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