Editing William F. Buckley (section)

==Political Influence and Conservatism==
Buckley’s **National Review** purged the conservative movement of fringe elements like the **John Birch Society** and **Ayn Rand**’s Objectivists, advocating a “fusionist” conservatism blending traditional values and free-market principles. He supported Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign, though it failed, and later championed Reagan, whose 1980 election victory owed much to Buckley’s intellectual groundwork. Buckley also influenced policy through friendships with presidents, including **Richard Nixon** and **George H.W. Bush**, and advised Reagan on Cold War strategy.

His nuanced positions included early support for segregation in the 1950s, arguing in a 1957 **National Review** editorial that Southern whites were “entitled to prevail” to preserve order, a stance he later renounced, embracing civil rights by the 1960s. Buckley opposed the Vietnam War’s escalation, criticized the **Watergate scandal**, and endorsed drug legalization in the 1990s, reflecting intellectual flexibility within his conservative framework.