Buckley’s Comrades

Buckley’s Comrades

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When the National Review celebrates its 20th anniversary this November, conservatives may salute its editor with the toast: “You’ve come a long way, Buckley.” Among the associate editors, consultants, and contributors another toast might be made, this time raised, perhaps after the third glass of champagne, as a nostalgic question: “Where were you in ’32?” Buckley’s comrades have also come a long way.

It is remarkable how many of the National Review writers are “twice-born” ideologues, conservative minds haunted by radical memories. At one time or another Buckley’s stable of editors and contributors included former members of the Communist party (Frank Meyer and William Schlamm), crypto-Communists and notorious socialists (Whittaker Chambers and J. B. Matthews), banished Lovestoneites and half-way Shachtmanites (Will Herberg and James Burnham), early supporters of the Sovie...