The Reagan I Knew

304 Pages·2008·0.75 MB·English

by  William F. Buckley Jr.

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THE REAGAN I KNEW
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Also by William F. Buckley Jr.
God and Man at Yale(1951) * High Jinx(1986)
McCarthy and His Enemies, Racing through Paradise(1987)
co-authoredwith L. Brent Bozell Jr.
* Mongoose, R.I.P.(1988)
(1954)
Keeping the Tablets, co-edited with
Up from Liberalism(1959)
Charles R. Kesler (1988)
The Committee and Its Critics (ed.)
On the Firing Line(1989)
(1962)
Gratitude(1990)
Rumbles Left and Right(1963)
* Tucker’s Last Stand(1990)
The Unmaking of a Mayor(1966)
Windfall(1992)
The Jeweler’s Eye(1968)
In Search of Anti-Semitism(1992)
Odyssey of a Friend,
by Whittaker Chambers, introduction Happy Days Were Here Again,
and notes by WFB (1969) edited by Patricia Bozell (1993)
The Governor Listeth(1970) * A Very Private Plot(1994)
Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? * The Blackford Oakes Reader
(ed.) (1970) (1995)
Cruising Speed(1971) * Brothers No More (1995)
Inveighing We Will Go(1972) Buckley: The Right Word,edited by
Samuel S. Vaughan (1996)
Four Reforms (1973)
The Lexicon(1996)
United Nations Journal(1974)
Nearer, My God(1997)
Execution Eve(1975)
* The Redhunter(1999)
* Saving the Queen(1976)
Let Us Talk of Many Things(2000)
Airborne (1976)
* Spytime(2000)
* Stained Glass(1978)
* Elvis in the Morning(2001)
A Hymnal(1978)
* Nuremberg(2002)
* Who’s on First(1980)
* Getting It Right(2003)
* Marco Polo, If You Can(1982)
The Fall of the Berlin Wall (2004)
Atlantic High(1982)
Miles Gone By(2004)
Overdrive(1983)
* Last Call for Blackford Oakes
* The Story of Henri Tod(1984)
(2005)
* See You Later Alligator (1985)
* The Rake (2007)
* The Temptation of Wilfred
Cancel Your Own Goddam
Malachey(1985)
Subscription (2007)
Right Reason, edited by Richard
Flying High: Remembering Barry
Brookhiser (1985)
Goldwater(2008)
* FICTION
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The Reagan I Knew
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR.
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
New York
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Copyright © 2008 by the Estate of William F. Buckley Jr.
Published by Basic Books
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103,
or call [phone], ext. 5000, or e-mail
[email protected].
Designed by Timm Bryson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Buckley, William F. (William Frank), 1925–2008.
The Reagan I knew / William F. Buckley, Jr.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-465-00926-8 (alk. paper)
1. Reagan, Ronald. 2. Reagan, Ronald—Friends and
associates. 3. Presidents—United States—Biography. 4.
Buckley, William F. (William Frank), 1925 2008. I. Title.
E877.B83 2008
973.927092—dc22
[B]
2008032557
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To my grandchildren, Caitlin Gregg Buckley and
William Conor Buckley
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CONTENTS
Foreword xi
Introduction xvii
Prologue 1
ONE First Meeting 3
Correspondence, 1965–1966 9
TWO Visiting the Reagans in California 17
THREE Is It Possible to Be a Good Governor? 21
FOUR Capote and the Reagans 27
Correspondence, 1967 33
FIVE Is Reagan Running? 39
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CONTENTS
Correspondence, 1968–1969 45
SIX Nixon to China 51
Correspondence, 1972–1976 55
SEVEN Reagan vs. Ford 69
EIGHT Schweiker for Veep? 73
NINE Thanksgiving at the Buckleys’ 77
Correspondence, 1976–1977 81
TEN Firing Lineand the Panama Canal 89
Correspondence, 1977 95
ELEVEN Firing Line: The Debate 99
Correspondence, 1978 113
TWELVE Reagan Anticipates His Presidency 115
THIRTEEN National Review’s 25th 127
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CONTENTS
FOURTEEN New Beginnings 133
Correspondence, 1980–1981 137
FIFTEEN Stockman and the Budget 147
A Self-Interrogation on the
151
SIXTEEN
Size of Government
Correspondence, 1981–1985 157
SEVENTEEN National Review’s 30th 177
EIGHTEEN On Nuclear Strategy in Honolulu 185
Correspondence, 1986–1990 191
NINETEEN Final Meeting 219
Correspondence, 1990–2005 227
Coda 239
Appendix: Selected Columns 243
Index 267
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