The Tea Party's Godfather

April 22, 2014 Topic: Society Region: United States

The Tea Party's Godfather

The life of L. Brent Bozell, Jr., the man who vied with Buckley for leadership of American conservatism.

Geoffrey Kabaservice is the author, most recently, of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party(Oxford University Press, 2012).

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Sage Ross. CC BY-SA 2.0.

1 William F. Buckley Jr. and L. Brent Bozell Jr. radio copy, n.d. (1952). William F. Buckley Jr. Papers (Yale University) 97-M-160-4: “Corr.–1950s.”

2 Carl T. Bogus, Buckley: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism(New York: Bloomsbury, 2011), 168.

3 L. Brent Bozell Jr., “The Challenge to Conservatives, II,” National Review, January 14, 1961, 12.

4 “To Magnify the West,” reprinted in L. Brent Bozell Jr., Mustard Seeds: A Conservative Becomes a Catholic (Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press, 2001).

5 L. Brent Bozell Jr. to William F. Buckley Jr., October 23, 1962. Buckley Papers I-18: “Buckley Family - Bozell, Patricia and L. Brent (1962).”

6 Garry Wills to William F. Buckley Jr., n.d. (1964?). Buckley Papers I-33: “Wills, Garry (1964).”

7 Albert C. Wedemeyer to William F. Buckley Jr., August 21, 1963. William F. Buckley Jr. Papers I-28, “Wetherby-Weiner (1963).”

8 Frank S. Meyer, “What Next for Conservatism?” National Review, December 1, 1964, 1057.

9 William F. Buckley Jr. to Edward T. Foley, April 17, 1962. William F. Buckley Jr. Papers I-20: “Foley, Edward T. (1962).”