Ken has subscribed to "National Review" for quite a few years and so I was a little familiar with Bill Buckley but not too much. I took this book with me when Ken and I flew out to Washington DC (for a TEA party) in September and I started it on the way back.
I thought that I had a very fitting beginning to reading this book as the introduction talks about the the 2010 CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) and the day before I had met and shook the hand of Mike Pence who was a great speaker there. Bill Buckley was the one who got things like CPAC started.
I also thought it was fitting that as I started reading the book on the airplane- I looked over and saw that the guy next to me (not Ken, a guy on the other side of me) was reading the "National Review".
As far as reading the books goes- there were parts I found very interesting and I definitely learned a lot as the author took us through the political life (with just a very small smattering of details of his family life) of Bill Buckley. I would also say however that this book was a pretty easy one to lay down. At times I had to really work at it to keep my interest up. I read it aloud to Ken some of the time and we discussed it some- so that did help. My guess is that those that aren't interested in politics won't find this very interesting. We are very into politics and still I didn't always find it interesting.
I did get a good laugh over the story about how the Buckley family (a large,rich, catholic and conservative family growing up at the same time as the Kennedys) loved to talk politics as a family and so even the children had very strong opinions. One day when one of Bill's sisters was young she got a blue ribbon at a horse show where the then president Franklin Roosevelt was in attendance. When she saw him applauding for her she turned her head away. Later her dad asked her why she had been rude to the President her response was "I thought you didn't like him!" I think I found it extra amusing because with how much was talk politics at home with our kids I could easily (but hopefully not!) see something like that happening to us.
I also really enjoyed what was said about Bill's mother- that her life's motto was: "never, ever to complain; because, she explained, she could never repay God the favors He had done her, no matter what tribulations she might have to suffer. " He said she firmly lived by that too. I think that is so neat because what she said is so true- it is just hard to follow through with the never, ever complaining.
I did also really think Bill Buckley hit the nail on the head when he talked about a "Formula to perpetual grievance". That is when people start asking the government for handouts, which then of course costs more money so then taxes have to be raised, but people hate paying higher taxes, and they really don't like it when they see members of other groups benefiting more from the spoils system than they are. That sort of system will never really truly work to make a happy and prosperous nation.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
