James L. Buckley

James Lane Buckley
File:NY Sen. James Buckley.jpg
U.S. Senator, New York
In office January, 1971–January, 1977
Preceded by	Charles Goodell (R)
Succeeded by	Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D)
Personal details
Nationality	American
Political party	Conservative (NY)

James Lane Buckley (born March 9, 1923 in New York City) was a United States Senator from the state of New York as a member of the Conservative Party of New York State. Buckley served from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1977. Formerly, he was vice president and director of the Catawba Corporation from 1953 to 1970, and afterwards served as Undersecretary of State for Security Assistance 1981-1982, President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc. 1982-1985, and as a federal judge 1985-2000.

He was also the lead petitioner in a landmark Supreme Court case, Buckley v. Valeo, in which he successfully challenged the constitutionality of a law limiting campaign spending in Congressional races.

A 1943 graduate of Yale University, where he was a member of Skull & Bones, and then enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942 and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant in 1946. After receiving his law degree from Yale Law School, he was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1950 and practiced law until 1953, when he joined Catawba as vice president and director. In 1970 he was elected to the U.S. Senate as a member of the Conservative Party of New York State, winning 38.7% of the vote in a three-way race, and served from 1971 until 1977. He was the first and only (to date) member of his party elected to the U.S. Senate.

Senate Races

In 1968, Buckley challenged liberal Republican Senator Jacob Javits for re-election. Javits won easily, but Buckley received a large number of votes from disaffected conservative Republicans, and in 1970, ran for the US Senate against liberal Republican incumbent Charles Goodell. Goodell had been appointed to the Senate by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and had made a name for himself in the Senate as an opponent of the Vietnam War.

With Goodell and the Democratic nominee, Richard Ottinger, splitting the liberal vote, Buckley won a plurality (38%) and entered the Senate in January 1971. In his 1976 re-election bid, with Rockefeller's liberal GOP faction falling apart, Buckley was able to receive the Republican nomination. Initially, he was favored for re-election, because the frontrunner in the crowded Democratic field was Rep. Bella Abzug, a liberal feminist reviled by the right. But when Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the US Ambassador to the UN, made a late entrance into the Democratic primary and defeated Abzug, Buckley could no longer count on getting the votes of moderate Democrats. Moynihan went on to defeat Buckley by a wide margin.

After his loss, Buckley moved to Connecticut, and in 1980 received the Republican nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Abraham Ribicoff. He lost the general election to Christopher Dodd, who still serves in the Senate.

1976 Republican National Convention

During the 1976 Republican National Convention, then-Senator Jesse Helms encouraged a "Draft Buckley" movement, as an effort to stop the nomination of Ronald Reagan for President. Reagan had announced that Pennsylvania Senator Richard Schweiker would be his running-mate if picked; Helms believed that Schweiker was far too liberal. The "Draft Buckley" movement was mooted when President Gerald Ford very narrowly won the party's nomination on the first ballot.

Appointment to Circuit Court by Ronald Reagan

In the first administration of President Ronald Reagan, Buckley initially served as an undersecretary of State and then as president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 1982 until 1985. Appointed a federal judge in 1985 by Reagan, he left his post at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He became a senior (semi-retired) judge of that Court in 1996.

Personal Life

Buckley is married to Ann Cooley Buckley and resides in Washington, D.C. and Sharon, Connecticut.

Facts

• Buckley is the older brother of famed conservative writer William F. Buckley, Jr. and the uncle of Christopher Taylor Buckley.
• He is also the uncle of Brent Bozell.
• In 1974, he proposed a "human life" amendment, which defined the term "person" in the Fourteenth Amendment to include the unborn.
• As of 2006, he is the last Senator to represent a party other than the Democratic or Republican parties.

Bibliography

• Buckley, James Lane (1975). If Men Were Angels: A View From the Senate. New York: Putnam. ISBN 0-399-11589-7.