William F. Buckley died last night. His death spurred my thinking not only about his legacy, but the legacy of another influential American of the twentieth century. Buckley was 29 when he began National Review in 1955; Hugh Hefner was 27 when Playboy first hit the newstands in 1959. National Review became the authoritative voice of the American conservative movement; Playboy became the authoritative voice of male hedonism ("Entertainment for Men," as the cover proclaims each month).
Bill Buckley championed free market captitalism, anti-communism, and divinely-given morality that could be demonstrated through natural law philosophy; Hef championed "the Playboy philosophy." Buckley disseminated his views through National Review just as Hefner did through Playboy. Buckley also wrote 55 books (and edited five others), and a newspaper column, "On the Right," two to three times a week that was carried by nearly 150 papers. His output through years of On the Right tops 4.5 million words in 5,600 columns. Hefner's literary output includes 250,000 words on the Playboy philosophy. Buckley was a serious thinker; Hefner is a rich playboy whose wealth was amassed by pushing pornography into the mainstream. First, it was soft porn, now Playboy Enterprises sells hard core porn through cable outlets.
Buckley wrote on about every serious topic imaginable, Hefner on issues of freedom, particularly for all things sexual in his monthly column in Playboy that began in 1962 and ran for many years. Buckley's prodigious literary output is legendary, Hefner's includes "some 1,500 leather-bound scrapbooks about his life and history to date" (Reuters). Buckley spent his adult life consumed by a passion to grow the conservative movement that was fueled by his conviction that conservative principles best guide civilization. In addition to his writings, there are the forty years of public speeches and his Firing Line television program that began in 1966 and ended its run in 1999.
Bill Buckley championed free market captitalism, anti-communism, and divinely-given morality that could be demonstrated through natural law philosophy; Hef championed "the Playboy philosophy." Buckley disseminated his views through National Review just as Hefner did through Playboy. Buckley also wrote 55 books (and edited five others), and a newspaper column, "On the Right," two to three times a week that was carried by nearly 150 papers. His output through years of On the Right tops 4.5 million words in 5,600 columns. Hefner's literary output includes 250,000 words on the Playboy philosophy. Buckley was a serious thinker; Hefner is a rich playboy whose wealth was amassed by pushing pornography into the mainstream. First, it was soft porn, now Playboy Enterprises sells hard core porn through cable outlets.
Buckley wrote on about every serious topic imaginable, Hefner on issues of freedom, particularly for all things sexual in his monthly column in Playboy that began in 1962 and ran for many years. Buckley's prodigious literary output is legendary, Hefner's includes "some 1,500 leather-bound scrapbooks about his life and history to date" (Reuters). Buckley spent his adult life consumed by a passion to grow the conservative movement that was fueled by his conviction that conservative principles best guide civilization. In addition to his writings, there are the forty years of public speeches and his Firing Line television program that began in 1966 and ended its run in 1999.
"As to those "major beneficiaries" of porn, you won't find too many women these days who think that the world is better because of Playboy or the smug, selfish ethic it has always purveyed. For good reason has the Playboy Foundation long been a benefactor to NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood: The Playboy Philosophy has always been for the ladies, too, all right--just so long as they remember what they're good for, don't get too sentimental and feel grateful when the playboy in their own life offers to pay for the abortion." ("The Playboy Legacy" 3/31/06)
William F. Buckley is widely regarded as the progenitor of the modern American conservative movement; Hugh Hefner founded an empire built on pornography. “All great biblical stories begin with Genesis,” George Will wrote in the National Review in 1980. “And before there was Ronald Reagan, there was Barry Goldwater, and before there was Barry Goldwater there was National Review, and before there was National Review there was Bill Buckley with a spark in his mind, and the spark in 1980 has become a conflagration.” (New York Times obituary, Douglas Martin, 2/27/08)
Buckley and Hefner came of age in the fifties and have been public figures into the 21st century. Both made their mark in magazine publishing. Both have been enormous presences on the American landscape. Buckley was know for his brilliant erudition, Hefner for a life that focused on the bedroom. Buckley died at age 82; Hefner lives on at age 81 (82 in April). The good die too young.
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