James L. Buckley
Encyclopedia
James Lane Buckley is a retired judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and previously served as a United States Senator
from the state of New York
as a member of the Conservative Party of New York
from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1977. He was vice president and director
of the Catawba Corporation from 1953 to 1970, and also served as Undersecretary of State for Security Assistance 1981–1982, and President of Radio Free Europe
/Radio Liberty, Inc. 1982–1985.
Buckley was also the lead petitioner
in a landmark Supreme Court case, Buckley v. Valeo
, which "shaped modern campaign-finance law." He successfully challenged the constitutionality
of a law limiting campaign spending
in Congressional
races.
In 1970, he was elected to the U.S. Senate as the nominee of the Conservative Party of New York
, winning 38.7 percent of the vote in a six candidate race, and served from 1971 until 1977. To date he has been the only candidate of his party, and the last third party
registrant, to be successfully nominated and elected to the U.S. Congress.
"Buckley went on to a distinguished career as an undersecretary of state—during Reagan
’s first term—and a federal appellate judge. In between, Buckley held a number of other positions, including as president of Radio Free Europe in the mid-1980s. These varied roles render him perhaps the only living American to have held high office in all three branches of the federal government."
William F. Buckley Jr., the founder of the influential conservative magazine National Review
, was James Buckley's brother.
, of Irish-Catholic descent, and Aloise Steiner, a Southerner of Swiss-German descent. He is the older brother of conservative writer William F. Buckley, Jr.
and the uncle of Christopher Taylor Buckley. He is also the uncle of Brent Bozell III. A 1943 graduate of Yale University
, where he was a member of Skull and Bones
, Buckley enlisted in the United States Navy
in 1942 and was discharged with the rank
of lieutenant
in 1946. After receiving his law
degree from Yale Law School
, he was admitted to the Connecticut
bar
in 1950 and practiced law until 1953, when he joined Catawba as vice president and director. Buckley is married to Ann Cooley Buckley and resides in Washington, D.C.
and Sharon, Connecticut
.
, Buckley challenged liberal
Republican Senator Jacob K. Javits
for re-election. Javits won easily, but Buckley received a large number of votes from disaffected conservative Republicans. In 1970, he ran on the Conservative Party line for the U.S. Senate, facing a Democrat and the Republican incumbent Charles Goodell
. Goodell had been appointed to the Senate by Governor Nelson Rockefeller
following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
. Goodell had moved left especially as an opponent of the Vietnam War
. Buckley's campaign slogan, plastered on billboards statewide, was "Isn't it time we had a Senator?"
With Goodell and the Democratic nominee Richard Ottinger
splitting the liberal vote, Buckley won with 38% of the vote, and entered the Senate in January 1971. "He performed well in New York City itself, at a time when the city still had a beating conservative heart in the middle-class neighborhoods of the outer boroughs
."
In his 1976 re-election bid, with Rockefeller's liberal GOP faction falling apart, Buckley received the Republican nomination. Initially, he was favored for re-election, because the frontrunner in the crowded Democratic field was Manhattan
Congresswoman Bella Abzug
, a liberal feminist reviled by the right. But when Daniel Patrick Moynihan
, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, made a late entrance into the Democratic primary
and narrowly defeated Abzug, Buckley could no longer count on getting the votes of moderate
Democrats. Moynihan went on to defeat Buckley 54% to 45%.
After his loss, Buckley moved to Connecticut
, and in 1980 received the Republican nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Abraham Ribicoff. He lost the general election to Christopher Dodd
, who would go on to hold the seat until his retirement in 2011.
to include the embryo.
, then-Senator Jesse Helms
encouraged a "Draft Buckley" movement, as an effort to stop the nomination of Ronald Reagan
for President. Reagan had announced that Pennsylvania
Senator Richard Schweiker
would be his running-mate if picked; Helms believed that Schweiker was too liberal. The "Draft Buckley" movement was mooted when President Gerald Ford
very narrowly won the party's nomination on the first ballot.
, Buckley initially served as an undersecretary of State and then as President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
from 1982 to 1985.
He was appointed in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
. He became a senior
(semi-retired) judge of that Court in 1996.
on January 12, 2011.
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United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as a member of the Conservative Party of New York
Conservative Party of New York
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party active in the state of New York. It is not part of any nationwide party, nor is it affiliated with the American Conservative Party, which it predates by over 40 years....
from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1977. He was vice president and director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Catawba Corporation from 1953 to 1970, and also served as Undersecretary of State for Security Assistance 1981–1982, and President of Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
/Radio Liberty, Inc. 1982–1985.
Buckley was also the lead petitioner
Petitioner
A petitioner is a person who pleads with governmental institution for a legal remedy or a redress of grievances, through use of a petition.-In the courts:The petitioner may seek a legal remedy if the state or another private person has acted unlawfully...
in a landmark Supreme Court case, Buckley v. Valeo
Buckley v. Valeo
Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal law which set limits on campaign contributions, but ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and struck down portions of the law...
, which "shaped modern campaign-finance law." He successfully challenged the constitutionality
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
of a law limiting campaign spending
Campaign finance
Campaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...
in Congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
races.
In 1970, he was elected to the U.S. Senate as the nominee of the Conservative Party of New York
Conservative Party of New York
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party active in the state of New York. It is not part of any nationwide party, nor is it affiliated with the American Conservative Party, which it predates by over 40 years....
, winning 38.7 percent of the vote in a six candidate race, and served from 1971 until 1977. To date he has been the only candidate of his party, and the last third party
Third party (United States)
The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...
registrant, to be successfully nominated and elected to the U.S. Congress.
"Buckley went on to a distinguished career as an undersecretary of state—during Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
’s first term—and a federal appellate judge. In between, Buckley held a number of other positions, including as president of Radio Free Europe in the mid-1980s. These varied roles render him perhaps the only living American to have held high office in all three branches of the federal government."
William F. Buckley Jr., the founder of the influential conservative magazine National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, was James Buckley's brother.
Early life; education and early career
Buckley was born in New York City to lawyer and businessman William Frank Buckley, Sr.William Frank Buckley, Sr.
William Frank Buckley, Sr. was a Texan lawyer and oil developer who became influential in Mexican politics during the term of President Victoriano Huerta and was expelled from Mexico during the Presidency of Álvaro Obregón. He became wealthy due to his interests in oil exploration and speculation...
, of Irish-Catholic descent, and Aloise Steiner, a Southerner of Swiss-German descent. He is the older brother of conservative writer William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
and the uncle of Christopher Taylor Buckley. He is also the uncle of Brent Bozell III. A 1943 graduate of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he was a member of Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
, Buckley enlisted in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in 1942 and was discharged with the rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1946. After receiving his law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
degree from Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
, he was admitted to the Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in 1950 and practiced law until 1953, when he joined Catawba as vice president and director. Buckley is married to Ann Cooley Buckley and resides in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Sharon, Connecticut
Sharon, Connecticut
Sharon is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the northwest corner of the state. It is bounded on the north by Salisbury, on the east by the Housatonic River, on the south by Kent, and on the west by Dutchess County, New York...
.
Political career
In 1968New York state election, 1968
The 1968 New York state election was held on November 5, 1968, to elect a judge of the New York Court of Appeals and a U.S. Senator, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.-Background:Judge Adrian P...
, Buckley challenged liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
Republican Senator Jacob K. Javits
Jacob K. Javits
Jacob Koppel "Jack" Javits was a politician who served as United States Senator from New York from 1957 to 1981. A liberal Republican, he was originally allied with Governor Nelson Rockefeller, fellow U.S...
for re-election. Javits won easily, but Buckley received a large number of votes from disaffected conservative Republicans. In 1970, he ran on the Conservative Party line for the U.S. Senate, facing a Democrat and the Republican incumbent Charles Goodell
Charles Goodell
Charles Ellsworth Goodell was a U.S. Representative and a Senator from New York, notable for coming into both offices under special circumstances following the deaths of his predecessors.-Early life and education:...
. Goodell had been appointed to the Senate by Governor Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
. Goodell had moved left especially as an opponent of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Buckley's campaign slogan, plastered on billboards statewide, was "Isn't it time we had a Senator?"
With Goodell and the Democratic nominee Richard Ottinger
Richard Ottinger
Richard Ottinger is an American politician of the Democratic Party, a former member of the United States House of Representatives, and a legal educator.-Early years:...
splitting the liberal vote, Buckley won with 38% of the vote, and entered the Senate in January 1971. "He performed well in New York City itself, at a time when the city still had a beating conservative heart in the middle-class neighborhoods of the outer boroughs
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
."
In his 1976 re-election bid, with Rockefeller's liberal GOP faction falling apart, Buckley received the Republican nomination. Initially, he was favored for re-election, because the frontrunner in the crowded Democratic field was Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
Congresswoman Bella Abzug
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus...
, a liberal feminist reviled by the right. But when Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, made a late entrance into the Democratic primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
and narrowly defeated Abzug, Buckley could no longer count on getting the votes of moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
Democrats. Moynihan went on to defeat Buckley 54% to 45%.
After his loss, Buckley moved to Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and in 1980 received the Republican nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Abraham Ribicoff. He lost the general election to Christopher Dodd
Christopher Dodd
Christopher John "Chris" Dodd is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut for a thirty-year period ending with the 111th United States Congress....
, who would go on to hold the seat until his retirement in 2011.
Senate tenure
In 1974, he proposed a "human life" amendment, which defined the term "person" in the Fourteenth AmendmentFourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
to include the embryo.
1976 Republican National Convention
During the 1976 Republican National Convention1976 Republican National Convention
The 1976 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States met at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, from August 16 to August 19, 1976. The convention nominated incumbent Gerald Ford for President, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California...
, then-Senator Jesse Helms
Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
encouraged a "Draft Buckley" movement, as an effort to stop the nomination of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
for President. Reagan had announced that Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
Senator Richard Schweiker
Richard Schweiker
Richard Schultz Schweiker is a former U.S. Congressman and Senator representing the state of Pennsylvania. He later was Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan.-Early life:...
would be his running-mate if picked; Helms believed that Schweiker was too liberal. The "Draft Buckley" movement was mooted when President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
very narrowly won the party's nomination on the first ballot.
Judicial career
In the first Reagan administrationReagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
, Buckley initially served as an undersecretary of State and then as President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
from 1982 to 1985.
He was appointed in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
. He became a senior
Senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...
(semi-retired) judge of that Court in 1996.
Books
Buckley is the author of three books. Freedom at Risk: Reflections on Politics, Liberty, and the State, was released in December 2010. Buckley discussed Freedom at Risk on C-SPANC-SPAN
C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
on January 12, 2011.
See also
- Buckley v. ValeoBuckley v. ValeoBuckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal law which set limits on campaign contributions, but ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and struck down portions of the law...
- Conservative Party of New York State
- William F. Buckley
Further reading
- Buckley, James Lane (1975). If Men Were Angels: A View From the Senate. New York: Putnam. ISBN 0-399-11589-7.
- Buckley, James Lane (2006). Gleanings from an Unplanned Life: An Annotated Oral History. Wilmington: Intercollegiate Studies institute. ISBN 978-1-933859-11-8.
- Buckley, James Lane (2010). Freedom at Risk: Reflections on Politics, Liberty, and the State. New York: Encounter Books. ISBN 1594034788.
External links
- Official website of James L. Buckley
- James L. Buckley at the C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
Video Library
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