NR Turns 70: A Different Perspective

Thanks to all of you for supporting our sometimes lonely cause.

Thanks to my editors for inviting me to write for National Review — Bill Buckley for 25 years, John O’Sullivan for another nine, and Rich Lowry these past 28 years.

You all know Rich, and most of you remember Bill. Let me say just a word about John. John O’Sullivan had one hellaciously tough act to follow. Following Bill Buckley at National Review was, in the British context, the equivalent of following Addison at the Spectator or Chesterton at the Weekly. Yet, John managed to carry it all off with his customary aplomb. Thank you, John.

As some of you may know, John is the only Commander of the British Empire — so designated by Queen Elizabeth herself — to have served as editor of an American political magazine. Some of my colleagues at NR worried about John’s divided loyalties. I never did. From day one, it seemed clear that John‘s stewardship of the magazine was far superior to his stewardship of the empire. Sorry, John. As you know better than most, no Buckley event could be considered complete without at least one mildly Anglophobic jape.

Thanks also to the governor and the first lady of my home state of Florida. I met them when they were dating. You could warm your hands by their love for each other — and by their love for our country.