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60-462: Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other National Review is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief

120-424: A Washington Post feature on conservative magazines, T.A. Frank noted: "From the perspective of a reader, these tensions make National Review as lively as it has been in a long time." As Trump announced his run for reelection in 2022 and throughout 2023, National Review editorialized regularly against him and his candidacy . A popular web version of the magazine, National Review Online ("N.R.O."), includes

180-673: A federal republic under the rule of law . Conservative philosophy also derives in part from the classical liberal tradition of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, which advocated laissez-faire economics (i.e. economic freedom and deregulation ). Louis Hartz argues that socialism has failed to become established in the United States because of Americans' widespread acceptance of an enduring, underlying Lockean consensus. While historians such as Patrick Allitt (born 1956) and political theorists such as Russell Kirk (1918–1994) assert that conservative principles have played

240-402: A Communist spy in the 1930s and then turned intensely anti-Communist, became a senior editor. In the magazine's founding statement Buckley wrote: The launching of a conservative weekly journal of opinion in a country widely assumed to be a bastion of conservatism at first glance looks like a work of supererogation, rather like publishing a royalist weekly within the walls of Buckingham Palace. It

300-432: A Conservative Party. They soon merged it into the state Democratic Parties. All of the major American political parties support republicanism and the basic classical liberal ideals on which the country was founded in 1776, emphasizing liberty, the rule of law, the consent of the governed , and that all men were created equal. Political divisions inside the United States often seemed minor or trivial to Europeans, where

360-612: A balance between federal government and states' rights . Apart from some right-libertarians , American conservatives tend to favor strong action in areas they believe to be within government's legitimate jurisdiction, particularly national defense and law enforcement while opposing government intervention in social issues such as healthcare and the environment . Social conservatives —many of them religious—often oppose abortion and same-sex marriage . They often favor prayer in public schools and government funding for private religious schools . Like most political ideologies in

420-657: A balanced budget. They argue that low taxes produce more jobs and wealth for everyone, and, as President Grover Cleveland said, "unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation". A recent movement against the inheritance tax labels such a tax as a " death tax ." Fiscal conservatives often argue that competition in the free market is more effective than the regulation of industry and is the most efficient way to promote economic growth . The Republican Party has taken widely varying views on protectionism and free trade throughout its history. Others, such as some libertarians and followers of Ludwig von Mises , believe all government intervention in

480-619: A conservative movement, which was increasingly embodied in Ronald Reagan . Reagan, a longtime subscriber to National Review , became politically prominent during Goldwater's campaign. National Review supported his challenge to President Gerald Ford in 1976 and his successful 1980 campaign. During the 1980s, National Review called for tax cuts, supply-side economics , the Strategic Defense Initiative , and support for President Reagan's foreign policy against

540-597: A digital version of the magazine, with articles updated daily by National Review writers, and conservative blogs. The online version is called N.R.O. to distinguish it from the printed magazine. It also features free articles, though these deviate in content from its print magazine. The site's editor is Phillip Klein , who replaced Charles C. W. Cooke . Each day, the site posts new content consisting of conservative, libertarian, and neoconservative opinion articles, including some syndicated columns, and news features. It also features two blogs : Markos Moulitsas , who runs

600-509: A few other publications, on several American college generations during the twenties and thirties. On November 19, 1955, Buckley's magazine began to take shape. Buckley assembled an eclectic group of writers: traditionalists, Catholic intellectuals, libertarians, and ex-Communists. The group included Revilo P. Oliver , Russell Kirk , James Burnham , Frank Meyer , and Willmoore Kendall , and Catholics L. Brent Bozell and Garry Wills . The former Time editor Whittaker Chambers , who had been

660-459: A liberal commentator. Buckley's brother-in-law, L. Brent Bozell Jr. left and started the short-lived traditionalist Catholic magazine, Triumph in 1966. Buckley and Meyer promoted the idea of enlarging the boundaries of conservatism through fusionism , whereby different schools of conservatives, including libertarians , would work together to combat what were seen as their common opponents. Buckley and his editors used his magazine to define

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720-499: A major role in U.S. politics and culture since 1776, they also argue that an organized conservative movement with beliefs that differ from those of other American political parties did not emerge in the U.S. at least until the 1950s. The recent movement conservatism has its base in the Republican Party , which has adopted conservative policies since the 1950s; Southern Democrats also became important early figures in

780-614: A monarchy, an established church, or a hereditary aristocracy. American conservatism is best characterized as a reaction against utopian ideas of progress and European political philosophy from before the end of World War II . Russell Kirk saw the American Revolution itself as "a conservative reaction, in the English political tradition, against royal innovation". In the 2022 book The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism , Matthew Continetti noted that

840-756: A more militaristic , interventionist foreign policy aimed at promoting democracy abroad, which stands in stark contrast to Paleoconservatisms more isolationist foreign policy. Neoconservatives often name communism and Islamism as the biggest threats to the free world. They often oppose the United Nations for interfering with American unilateralism. National conservatism focuses on upholding national and cultural identity . National conservatives strongly identify with American nationalism , patriotism , and American exceptionalism , while opposing internationalism , globalism , and multiculturalism . The movement seeks to promote national interests through

900-460: A professor of history at Mount Holyoke College , wrote: Here was no lover of government by plutocracy, no dreamer of an America filled with factions and hard-packed cities. Here was a man who loved America as it was and had been, one whose life was a doughty testament to the trials and glories of ordered liberty. Here ... was the model of the American conservative. Willi Schlamm Schlamm

960-614: A smaller government is known as starve the beast . Activist Grover Norquist is a well-known proponent of the strategy and has famously said, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." The argument in favor of balanced budgets is often coupled with a belief that government welfare programs should be narrowly tailored and that tax rates should be low, which implies relatively small government institutions. Neoconservatism emphasizes foreign policy over domestic policy. Its supporters, mainly war hawks , advocate

1020-446: A steady flow of "prescription and prejudice". Kirk's use of the word "prejudice" here is not intended to carry its contemporary pejorative connotation: a conservative himself, he believed that the inherited wisdom of the ages may be a better guide than apparently rational individual judgment. Through much of the 20th century, a primary force uniting the varied strands of conservatism, and uniting conservatives with liberals and socialists,

1080-406: A strong national defense , gun rights , capital punishment , and a defense of Western culture from perceived threats posed by communism , Islamism and moral relativism . American conservatives may question epidemiology , climate change , and evolution more frequently than moderates or liberals . In the United States, " conservative " is often used very differently from the way it

1140-543: A study of human experience. On this point we are, without reservations, on the conservative side. According to Peter Viereck , American conservatism is distinctive because it was not tied to a monarchy, landed aristocracy, established church, or military elite. Instead American conservatives were firmly rooted in American republicanism , which European conservatives opposed. They are committed, says Seymour Martin Lipset , to

1200-768: A united public voice. They wanted to marginalize the antiwar , noninterventionistic views of the Old Right . In 1953, moderate Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, and many major magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post , Time , and Reader's Digest were strongly conservative and anticommunist, as were many newspapers including the Chicago Tribune and St. Louis Globe-Democrat . A few small-circulation conservative magazines, such as Human Events and The Freeman , preceded National Review in developing Cold War conservatism in

1260-494: Is Rich Lowry , and its editor is Ramesh Ponnuru . Since its founding, the magazine has played a significant role in the development of conservatism in the United States , helping to define its boundaries and promoting fusionism while establishing itself as a leading voice on the American right . Before National Review ' s founding in 1955, the American right was a largely unorganized collection of people who shared intertwining philosophies but had little opportunity for

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1320-552: Is Yes – the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race." By the 1970s National Review advocated colorblind policies and the end of affirmative action . In the late 1960s, the magazine denounced segregationist George Wallace , who ran in Democratic primaries in 1964 and 1972 and made an independent run for president in 1968. During the 1950s, Buckley had worked to remove anti-Semitism from

1380-536: Is a form of democratized Whig constitutionalism plus the free market . The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism ". American conservatives tend to support Christian values , moral absolutism , and American exceptionalism , while opposing abortion , euthanasia , and some LGBT rights (depending on the politicians). They tend to favor economic liberalism , and are generally pro- business and pro- capitalism , while opposing communism and labor unions . They often advocate for

1440-419: Is a large and mainstream ideology in the Republican Party and nation. As of 2021, 36 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative, according to polling by Gallup, Inc. Conservatism in the United States is not a single school of thought. According to American philosopher Ian Adams, all major American parties are " liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism , that

1500-490: Is not that of course; if National Review is superfluous, it is so for very different reasons: It stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no other is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it. As editors and contributors, Buckley sought out intellectuals who were ex-Communists or had once worked on the far left, including Whittaker Chambers, William Schlamm , John Dos Passos , Frank Meyer, and James Burnham. When James Burnham became one of

1560-429: Is politically, intellectually, and morally repugnant. We shall recommend policies for the simple reason that we consider them right (rather than "non-controversial"); and we consider them right because they are based on principles we deem right (rather than on popularity polls)... The New Deal revolution, for instance, could hardly have happened save for the cumulative impact of The Nation and The New Republic , and

1620-537: Is used in Europe. Following the American Revolution , Americans rejected the then core ideals of European conservatism, which were based on landed nobility , hereditary monarchy , established churches , and powerful armies. Conservatives in the United States historically view individual liberty within the bounds of conservative values as the fundamental trait of democracy . They typically believe in

1680-520: The Soviet Union . The magazine criticized the welfare state and would support the welfare reform proposals of the 1990s. The magazine also regularly criticized President Bill Clinton . It first embraced and then rejected Pat Buchanan in his political campaigns. A lengthy 1996 National Review editorial called for a "movement toward" drug legalization. In 1985, National Review and Buckley were represented by attorney J. Daniel Mahoney during

1740-527: The liberal Daily Kos web-site, told reporters in August 2007 that he does not read conservative blogs, with the exception of those on N.R.O.: "I do like the blogs at the National Review —I do think their writers are the best in the [conservative] blogosphere," he said. The N.R.I. works in policy development and helping establish new advocates in the conservative movement. National Review Institute

1800-452: The nuclear family . There are two overlapping subgroups of social conservatives: the traditional and the religious. Traditional conservatives strongly support traditional codes of conduct, especially those they feel are threatened by social change and modernization. Religious conservatives focus on conducting society based on the morals prescribed by fundamentalist religious authorities, rejecting secularism and moral relativism . In

1860-533: The 1950s. In 1953, Russell Kirk published The Conservative Mind , which traced an intellectual bloodline from Edmund Burke to the Old Right in the early 1950s. This challenged the notion among intellectuals that no coherent conservative tradition existed in the United States. A young William F. Buckley Jr. was greatly influenced by Kirk's concepts. Buckley had money; his father grew rich from oil fields in Mexico. He first tried to purchase Human Events , but

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1920-692: The 1980s preached traditional moral and religious social values. The history of American conservatism has been marked by tensions and competing ideologies. During the era of Ronald Reagan , a coalition of ideologies was formed that was known as "the Three Leg Stool " — the three legs being social conservatives (consisting of the Christian right and paleo-conservatives ), war hawks (consisting of interventionists and neoconservatives ), and fiscal conservatives (consisting of right-libertarians and free-market capitalists ), with overlap between

1980-600: The American conservative movement has been fractured for a century. Political conservatives have emphasized an identification with the Founding Fathers of the United States and the U.S. Constitution . Scholars of conservative political thought "generally label John Adams as the intellectual father of American conservatism". Russell Kirk points to Adams as the key Founding Father for conservatives, saying that "some writers regard him as America's most important conservative public man". In 1955, Clinton Rossiter ,

2040-578: The Republican nomination for president. After Trump's election to the presidency and through his administration, the National Review editorial board continued to criticize him. However, following Trump's 2016 electoral victory over Hillary Clinton , some National Review and National Review Online contributors took more varied positions on Trump. Hanson, for instance, supports him, while others, such as editor Ramesh Ponnuru and contributor Jonah Goldberg , have remained uniformly critical of Trump. In

2100-489: The Southern " Bible Belt " and in recent years played a major role in the political coalitions of George W. Bush and Donald Trump . Fiscal conservatism has ideological roots in capitalism , limited government , free enterprise , and laissez-faire economics. Fiscal conservatives typically support tax cuts , reduced government spending , free markets , deregulation , privatization , minimal government debt , and

2160-475: The United States is based on a belief in individualism , traditionalism , republicanism , and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states . Conservatism is one of two major political ideologies of the United States with the other being liberalism . Conservative and Christian media organizations and American conservative figures are influential, and American conservatism

2220-474: The United States , conservatism originates from republicanism , which rejects aristocratic and monarchical government and upholds the principles of the 1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence ("that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness") and of the U.S. Constitution , which established

2280-491: The United States, this translates into hard-line stances on moral issues, such as opposition to abortion , LGBT rights , feminism , pornography , comprehensive sex education , and recreational drug use . Religious conservatives often assert that America is a Christian nation , calling for laws that enforce Christian morality . They often support school prayer , vouchers for parochial schools , and restricting or outlawing abortion . Social conservatives are strongest in

2340-745: The belief in America's "superiority against the cold reactionary monarchical and more rigidly status-bound system of European society". In terms of governmental economic policies, American conservatives have been heavily influenced by the classical liberal or libertarian tradition as expressed by Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman , and a major source of influence has been the Chicago school of economics . They have been strongly opposed to Keynesian economics . Traditional ( Burkean ) conservatives tend to be anti-ideological, and some would even say anti-philosophical, promoting, as Russell Kirk explained,

2400-550: The boundaries of conservatism—and to exclude people or ideas or groups they considered unworthy of the conservative title. Therefore, they attacked the John Birch Society , George Wallace , and anti-Semites. Buckley's goal was to increase the respectability of the conservative movement; in 2004, current editor Rich Lowry , compiled various quotes of articles commenting on Buckley's retirement including from The Dallas Morning News : "Mr. Buckley's first great achievement

2460-484: The conservative impulse and the reactionary impulse do not... express themselves in ideas but only... in irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas. Buckley said that National Review "is out of place because, in its maturity, literate America rejected conservatism in favor of radical social experimentation... since ideas rule the world, the ideologues, having won over the intellectual class, simply walked in and started to... run just about everything. There never

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2520-410: The conservative magazine, National Review , with Buckley as the sole owner. Schlamm became a senior editor but was later fired by Buckley. He then became associate editor of the John Birch Society 's journal, American Opinion . After writing for conservative magazines, he returned to Germany in 1972, where he was a controversial columnist for Axel Springer 's Die Welt am Sonntag and published

2580-403: The conservative movement and barred holders of those views from working for National Review . In 1962, Buckley denounced Robert W. Welch Jr. and the John Birch Society as "far removed from common sense" and urged the Republican Party to purge itself of Welch's influence. After Goldwater was defeated by Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Buckley and National Review continued to champion the idea of

2640-699: The divide between the left and the right led to violent polarization, starting with the French Revolution . In 2009, Emory University history professor Patrick Allitt wrote that attitude, not policy, are at the core of differences between liberals and conservatives: Certain continuities can be traced through American history. The conservative 'attitude' ... was one of trusting to the past, to long-established patterns of thought and conduct, and of assuming that novelties were more likely to be dangerous than advantageous. No American party has ever advocated traditional European ideals of "conservatism" such as

2700-416: The economy is wasteful, corrupt, and immoral. Fiscal conservatism advocates restraint of progressive taxation and expenditure. Fiscal conservatives since the 19th century have argued that debt is a device to corrupt politics; they argue that big spending ruins the morals of the people, and that a national debt creates a dangerous class of speculators. A political strategy employed by conservatives to achieve

2760-451: The editorial policy of the magazine and on the thinking of Buckley himself. National Review aimed to make conservative ideas respectable in an age when the dominant view of conservative thought was, as expressed by Columbia professor Lionel Trilling , [L]iberalism is not only the dominant but even the sole intellectual tradition. For it is the plain fact that nowadays there are no conservative or reactionary ideas in general circulation...

2820-501: The era, we are, without reservations, on the libertarian side. The profound crisis of our era is, in essence, the conflict between the Social Engineers, who seek to adjust mankind to scientific utopias, and the disciples of Truth, who defend the organic moral order. We believe that truth is neither arrived at nor illuminated by monitoring election results, binding though these are for other purposes, but by other means, including

2880-425: The magazine's $ 16 million libel suit against The Spotlight . Victor Davis Hanson , a regular contributor since 2001, sees a broad spectrum of conservative and anti- liberal contributors: In other words, a wide conservative spectrum— paleo-conservatives , neo-conservatives , tea-party enthusiasts, the deeply religious and the agnostic , both libertarians and social conservatives , free-marketeers and

2940-519: The more protectionist —characterizes National Review . The common requisite is that they present their views as a critique of prevailing liberal orthodoxy but do so analytically and with decency and respect. The magazine has been described as "the bible of American conservatism ". In 2015, the magazine published an editorial titled "Against Trump", calling Donald Trump a "philosophically unmoored political opportunist" and announcing its adamant and uniform opposition to his presidential candidacy for

3000-481: The movement's history. In 1937, Southern Democrats formed the congressional conservative coalition , which played an influential role in Congress from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s. In recent decades, Southern conservatives voted heavily Republican. Conservatism in the United States is not a single school of thought. Barry Goldwater in the 1960s spoke for a " free enterprise " conservatism. Jerry Falwell in

3060-414: The original senior editors, he urged the adoption of a more pragmatic editorial position that would extend the influence of the magazine toward the political center. Smant (1991) finds that Burnham overcame sometimes heated opposition from other members of the editorial board (including Meyer, Schlamm, William Rickenbacker, and the magazine's publisher William A. Rusher ), and had a significant effect on both

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3120-528: The preservation of traditional cultural values , restrictions on illegal immigration , and strict law and order policies. In the United States, there has never been a national political party called the Conservative Party. Since 1962, there has been a small Conservative Party of New York State . During Reconstruction in several states in the South in the late 1860s, the former Whigs formed

3180-614: The sides . In the 21st century United States, types of conservatism include: In February 1955, in the first issue of National Review , William F. Buckley Jr. explained the standards of his magazine and articulate the beliefs of American conservatives: Among our convictions: It is the job of centralized government (in peacetime) to protect its citizens' lives, liberty and property. All other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress. The growth of government (the dominant social feature of this century) must be fought relentlessly. In this great social conflict of

3240-581: Was an age of conformity quite like this one, or a camaraderie quite like the Liberals.' National Review promoted Barry Goldwater heavily during the early 1960s. Buckley and others involved with the magazine took a major role in the "Draft Goldwater" movement in 1960 and the 1964 presidential campaign. National Review spread his vision of conservatism throughout the country. The early National Review faced occasional defections from both left and right. Garry Wills broke with National Review and became

3300-838: Was born into an upper middle class Jewish family in Przemyśl , Galicia , in the Austrian Empire . He became a Communist early in life, and when he was 16 years old was invited to the Kremlin to meet Vladimir Lenin . After completing secondary school, he became a writer with the Vienna Communist newspaper, Die Rote Fahne . He left the Communist Party in 1929 and joined the left-wing magazine Die Weltbühne in 1932. His book Diktatur der Lüge: Eine Abrechnung mit Stalin (Dictatorshop of Lies: A Reckoning with Stalin)

3360-606: Was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1991 to engage in policy development, public education, and advocacy that would advance the conservative principles he championed. Conservatism in the United States Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Conservatism in

3420-697: Was opposition to communism, which was seen not only as an enemy of the traditional order but also the enemy of Western freedom and democracy. Between 1945 and 1947, it was the Labour government in the United Kingdom, which embraced socialism, that pushed the Truman administration to take a strong stand against Soviet Communism . Social conservatism in the United States is the defense of traditional family values rooted in Judeo-Christian ethics and

3480-483: Was published in Zurich in 1937. He was in correspondence with Otto Rühle and Alice Rühle-Gerstel , sending them a copy. Rühle sent a reply in August 1937. Later, Schlamm moved to the United States, where he worked for Henry Luce , the publisher of Life , Time and Fortune magazines. He became a U.S. citizen in 1944 alongside code breaker Jeremy Spiro. Schlamm encouraged William F. Buckley, Jr. to found

3540-590: Was to purge the American right of its kooks. He marginalized the anti-Semites, the John Birchers, the nativists and their sort." In 1957, National Review editorialized in favor of white leadership in the South, arguing that "the central question that emerges... is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas where it does not predominate numerically? The sobering answer

3600-454: Was turned down. He then met Willi Schlamm , the experienced editor of The Freeman ; they would spend the next two years raising the $ 300,000 necessary to start their own weekly magazine, originally to be called National Weekly . (A magazine holding the trademark to the name prompted the change to National Review .) The statement of intentions read: Middle-of-the-Road, qua Middle of the Road,

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