James L. Buckley#Elections

{{Infobox officeholder

| name =

| image = James L. Buckley.jpg

| caption = Buckley in the 1970s

| office = Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

| term_start = August 31, 1996

| term_end = August 18, 2023

| office1 = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

| term_start1 = December 17, 1985

| term_end1 = August 31, 1996

| appointer1 = Ronald Reagan

| predecessor1 = Edward Allen Tamm

| successor1 = John Roberts

| office2 = 21st Counselor of the Department of State

| president2 = Ronald Reagan

| term_start2 = September 9, 1982

| term_end2 = September 26, 1982

| predecessor2 = Robert McFarlane

| successor2 = Ed Derwinski

| office3 = 6th Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs

| president3 = Ronald Reagan

| term_start3 = February 28, 1981

| term_end3 = August 20, 1982

| predecessor3 = Matthew Nimetz

| successor3 = William Schneider Jr.

| jr/sr4 = United States Senator

| state4 = New York

| term_start4 = January 3, 1971

| term_end4 = January 3, 1977

| predecessor4 = Charles Goodell

| successor4 = Daniel Patrick Moynihan

| birth_name = James Lane Buckley

| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|3|9}}

| birth_place = {{nowrap|New York City, U.S.}}

| death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2023|8|18|1923|3|9}}}}

| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

| spouse = {{marriage|Ann Cooley|1953|2011|end=died}}

| children = 6

| father = William F. Buckley Sr.

| relatives = {{plainlist|

| party = {{plainlist|

Conservative (until 1976){{efn|Though elected to the U.S. Senate as a member of the Conservative Party, Buckley caucused with Senate Republicans during his term.}}
Republican (from 1976)}}

| education = Yale University (BA, LLB)

| allegiance =

| branch = United States Navy

| serviceyears = 1942–1946

| rank = Lieutenant (junior grade)

| battles = World War II

}}

James Lane Buckley (March 9, 1923 – August 18, 2023) was an American politician, jurist, diplomat, and author. Buckley served in the United States Senate as a member of the Conservative Party of New York State, held multiple positions within the Reagan administration, and served as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was a brother of prominent conservative author and commentator William F. Buckley Jr.

In 1970, Buckley was elected to the U.S. Senate as the nominee of the Conservative Party of New York. In a stunning upset, he won the 1970 election with 39% of the vote and served from 1971 until 1977; Democrat Daniel Moynihan unseated him in 1976. Buckley also ran for the U.S. Senate in the 1980 United States Senate election in Connecticut, but was defeated by Democrat Chris Dodd. During the first Reagan administration, Buckley served as Undersecretary of State for International Security Affairs. He was also President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 1982 to 1985.

Buckley was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on October 16, 1985. On December 17, 1985, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and received his commission. Buckley assumed senior status in 1996. He had the distinction of having held a constitutional office in each of the three branches of the American federal government.

Early life, education, family, and early career

James Lane Buckley was born on March 9, 1923, in Manhattan, New York City, to Aloise Steiner and William Frank Buckley Sr., the fourth of ten children to the couple.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/18/nyregion/james-buckley-dead.html|title = James L. Buckley, Conservative Senator in Liberal New York, Dies at 100|last = McFadden|first = Robert D.|date = August 18, 2023|accessdate = August 18, 2023|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}}{{Cite news |date=November 5, 1970 |title=Tenacious Senator-Elect |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/05/archives/tenacious-senatorelect-james-lane-buckley.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201012202733/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/05/archives/tenacious-senatorelect-james-lane-buckley.html |archive-date=October 12, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://dcchs.org/judges/buckley-james-l/ |title=Hon. James L. Buckley|publisher=Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit |access-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423004715/https://dcchs.org/judges/buckley-james-l/ |url-status=live }} Because his father spoke Spanish to the Buckley children when Buckley was very young, Buckley learned Spanish before he learned English.{{ Cite web |url=https://dcchs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/James-L.-Buckley-Complete-Oral-History-compressed.pdf |title=Honorable James L. Buckley|website=dcchs.org|access-date=March 22, 2025}} He was the older brother of the late conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr. and the uncle of Christopher Taylor Buckley. He was also the uncle of Brent Bozell III and political consultant William F. B. O'Reilly. His mother, from New Orleans, was of Swiss-German, German, and Irish descent, while his paternal grandparents, from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, were of Irish ancestry.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UBfYAAAAMAAJ|title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time|date=January 1, 1967|publisher=University Microfilms|via=Google Books}}

Buckley attended Millbrook School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1943;{{cite news |first=Robert D. |last=McFadden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/05/archives/tenacious-senatorelect-james-lane-buckley.html |title=Tenacious Senator-Elect |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 5, 1970 |accessdate=April 22, 2021 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411023158/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/05/archives/tenacious-senatorelect-james-lane-buckley.html |url-status=live }} at Yale, he was a member of Skull and Bones.Alexandra Robbins, Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power, Little, Brown and Company, 2002, page 168, 174"People in the News", Associated Press, May 27, 1983Bob Dart, "Skull and bones a secret shared by Bush, Kerry", The Gazette, March 7, 2004 Buckley enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942. During World War II, he participated in the battles of Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, and Okinawa. Buckley was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade) in 1946. After receiving his Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School in 1949, he was admitted to the bar of Connecticut in 1950 and practiced law until 1953, when he joined The Catawba Corporation as vice president and director.{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/buckley-james-lane|title=Buckley, James Lane – Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov|access-date=July 23, 2017|archive-date=August 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820034902/https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/buckley-james-lane|url-status=live}} In 1965, he managed his brother's campaign for Mayor of New York. Meanwhile, in May 1953, he married Ann Frances Cooley, with whom he had six children. She died on December 30, 2011.{{Cite news |date=January 3, 2012 |title=Sharon-Ann Buckley |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=sharon-ann-buckley&pid=155311951 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201012204049/https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=sharon-ann-buckley&pid=155311951 |archive-date=October 12, 2020}}

File:Nixon Contact Sheet WHPO-5072 (cropped).jpg on November 6, 1970]]

United States Senate

=Elections=

==1968==

In 1968, Buckley ran for the senatorial nomination of the Conservative Party of New York State, after his brother William F. Buckley Jr. had served as the party's mayoral nominee in the 1965 New York City mayoral election. Buckley won the party's nomination on April 2, 1968, with the unanimous support of all forty state committeemen.{{Cite news |date=April 3, 1968 |title=James Buckley Nominated By Conservative Party as U.S. Senate Candidate |page=15 |work=The Glens Falls Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60996528/the-glens-falls-times/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201012210429/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60996528/the-glens-falls-times/ |archive-date=October 12, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} Buckley placed third in the general election behind Republican nominee Jacob Javits and Democratic nominee Paul O'Dwyer after receiving 1,139,402 votes (17.31%).{{Cite news |title=1968 Senatorial election results |work=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60996528/the-glens-falls-times/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016142318/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1968&fips=36&f=0&off=3&elect=0&minper=0 |archive-date=October 16, 2020}}

== 1970 ==

U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles, California on June 6, 1968.{{Cite news |date=May 18, 2008 |title=THE LAST CAMPAIGN |url=https://nypost.com/2008/05/18/the-last-campaign/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601160919/https://nypost.com/2008/05/18/the-last-campaign/ |archive-date=June 1, 2020}} Kennedy's death left a vacancy in the United States Senate that would be filled through an appointment by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. On September 10, Rockefeller appointed Charles Goodell, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from the 38th congressional district, to fill the vacancy.{{Cite news |date=September 10, 1968 |title=Pick Goodell To Succeed Slain RFK |page=1 |work=The Sheboygan Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52588122/the-sheboygan-press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200601165831/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52588122/the-sheboygan-press/ |archive-date=June 1, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} Goodell sought election to a full term in 1970.

On April 6, 1970, Buckley announced that he would seek the Conservative Party's senatorial nomination again.{{Cite news |date=April 7, 1970 |title=James Buckley May Oppose Sen. Goodell |page=4 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52615026/the-times-record/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602000653/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52615026/the-times-record/ |archive-date=June 2, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Conservative State Committee convened inside Hotel McAlpin in Manhattan on April 7, 1970 to select the party's nominee in the general election. Kevin P. McGovern attempted to force a primary campaign between himself and Buckley, but failed to receive the 25% of delegate votes necessary for a primary. Buckley received nearly ninety percent of the delegate votes and the remainder were split between McGovern and abstaining delegates.{{Cite news |date=April 8, 1970 |title=Adams, James Buckley On Conservative Slate |page=12 |work=The Times Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52604458/the-times-record/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200601212631/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52604458/the-times-record/ |archive-date=June 1, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=April 7, 1970 |title=Conservatives Set To Rename Buckley |page=106 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52607186/daily-news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200601215121/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52607186/daily-news/ |archive-date=June 1, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}}

On June 20, F. Clifton White, Buckley's campaign manager, announced that Buckley's campaign would circulate petitions in an attempt to gain another ballot line named the Independent Alliance Party.{{Cite news |date=June 21, 1970 |title=Buck Seeks Second Line |page=8 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52714244/daily-news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603192754/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52714244/daily-news/ |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} Enough valid signatures were collected to gain the additional ballot line, but New York Secretary of State John P. Lomenzo ruled that the Independent Alliance's emblem, an outline of New York with Buckley's name inside, was illegal as New York's election law limited the number of times that a candidate's name could appear on a ballot line to one.{{Cite news |date=September 11, 1970 |title=One Party Off; One On, Maybe |page=8 |work=The Ithaca Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52718225/the-ithaca-journal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603192753/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52718225/the-ithaca-journal/ |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} Lomenzo later allowed the party onto the ballot after the emblem was changed to a shield with the letter "I" inside.{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1970 |title=Independent Alliance Back on NY's Ballot |page=18 |work=Star-Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52718214/star-gazette/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603192805/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52718214/star-gazette/ |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Buckley ran as a pragmatic conservative. Both Goodell and Democrat Richard Ottinger were liberal candidates who opposed the Vietnam War. The liberalism of the two major-party candidates gave Buckley an opening. In the general election, Buckley prevailed with 39% of the vote.{{Cite news |title=Clerk of the House of Representatives 1970 Election Results Page 22 |url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1970election.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207103206/http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1970election.pdf |archive-date=December 7, 2014}}{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-weekend-interview-nine-decades-at-the-barricades-1406931516|title=Nine Decades at the Barricades|first=James|last=Taranto|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=August 1, 2014|via=wsj.com|access-date=February 25, 2019|archive-date=November 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126184117/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-weekend-interview-nine-decades-at-the-barricades-1406931516|url-status=live}} According to The New York Times, "the political cognoscenti were stunned" by Buckley's unexpected victory.

== 1976 ==

In 1971, Buckley spoke to the Republican National Finance committee about running for reelection in the 1976 elections with the Republican nomination.{{Cite news |date=January 15, 1971 |title=Buckley Looking to '76 And Hopes for a Repeat |page=3 |work=The Kingston Daily Freeman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61205351/the-kingston-daily-freeman/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016145106/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61205351/the-kingston-daily-freeman/ |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} Peter A. Peyser challenged him in the Republican primary, but Buckley prevailed. Buckley gained Nelson Rockefeller's support by agreeing to not support Ronald Reagan's campaign against Gerald Ford in the Republican presidential primaries.{{Cite news |date=October 9, 2014 |title=Peter Peyser, Legislator Who Defied the G.O.P., Dies at 93 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/nyregion/peter-a-peyser-congressman-from-westchester-dies-at-93.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112073236/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/nyregion/peter-a-peyser-congressman-from-westchester-dies-at-93.html |archive-date=November 12, 2022}} Running on the Republican and Conservative lines, Buckley lost the general election to Democratic nominee Daniel Patrick Moynihan by a margin of 54% to 45%.{{sfn|Moore|Preimesberger|Tarr|2001|pp=1290}}

== 1980 ==

After Democratic U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff opted not to seek re-election,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/02/archives/connecticut-legislator-opens-gop-contest-for-a-us-senate-seat.html|title=Connecticut Legislator Opens G.O.P. Contest For a U.S. Senate Seat Ribicoff Stepping Down |publisher=The New York Times|date=December 2, 1979}} Buckley ran for U.S. Senate from Connecticut as a Republican in 1980. In the Republican primary, he defeated Connecticut State Senator Richard Bozzuto.{{cite web | url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=122998 | title=Our Campaigns - CT US Senate - R Primary Race - Sep 09, 1980 }} In the general election, he was defeated by Democrat Chris Dodd, 56%-43%.{{cite web | url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3895 | title=Our Campaigns - CT US Senate Race - Nov 04, 1980 }}

= Tenure =

During his tenure in the United States Senate Buckley's political affiliation was referred to as Conservative-Republican of New York (C-R-N.Y).{{Cite news |date=January 19, 1971 |title=Javits to Break Silence On Buckley Seating Issue |page=7 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61204620/democrat-and-chronicle/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016143551/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61204620/democrat-and-chronicle/ |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Republican caucus in the Senate voted 36 to 3 in favor of admitting Buckley into their caucus, with Senators Jacob Javits, John Sherman Cooper, and William B. Saxbe all opposing Buckley's admittance to the caucus.{{Cite news |date=January 21, 1971 |title=Caucus Gives Buckley Senate GOP Status |page=2 |work=Press and Sun-Bulletin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61204780/press-and-sun-bulletin/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016143752/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61204780/press-and-sun-bulletin/ |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=January 22, 1971 |title=The 92nd: Buckley's In, Ted's Out |page=1 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61204855/democrat-and-chronicle/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016143955/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61204855/democrat-and-chronicle/ |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1971, Buckley was appointed to the air and water pollution, roads, and economic development sub-committees within the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.{{Cite news |date=February 4, 1971 |title=Buckley Gets Assignments |page=1 |work=The Times Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61205525/the-times-record/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016145538/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61205525/the-times-record/ |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}} Buckley supported Richard Nixon during the 1972 presidential election and called for the Conservative Party, which had not supported Nixon during the 1968 presidential election, to support Nixon in the 1972 election.{{Cite news |date=June 8, 1972 |title=Sen. Buckley Boosts President |page=214 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61227102/daily-news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016204600/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61227102/daily-news/ |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1974, Buckley proposed a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If passed, the Amendment would have defined the term "person" in the Fourteenth Amendment to include the embryo.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/448339723/?terms=%22james%20buckley%22%20%22human%20life%20amendment%22&match=1 |title=Latrobe Bulletin 25 Jan 1974, page 15 |publisher=Newspapers.com |date=January 25, 1974 |accessdate=August 18, 2023}}

Buckley's enacted legislation includes the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that governs use of student records and the Protection of Pupils' Rights Act (PPRA) which requires parent notification, right to review, and consent for administration of student surveys to minors if the survey collects information on any of eight specified topics.{{cite web|last=|first=|title=James L. Buckley|url=https://www.congress.gov/member/james-buckley/B001026|access-date=February 8, 2022|website=www.congress.gov|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208224540/https://www.congress.gov/member/james-buckley/B001026|url-status=live}}

In the spring of 1974, with the Watergate scandal continuing to grow in magnitude and seriousness, Buckley surprised and, in some cases, angered some of his allies among Republicans when he called upon the increasingly-embattled Richard M. Nixon to voluntarily resign the presidency.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/414692/why-richard-nixon-should-resign-presidency-james-l-buckley|title=Why Richard Nixon Should Resign the Presidency|magazine=The National Review|date=1974}} Buckley said that in doing so, he was making no judgment as to Nixon's technical legal guilt or innocence of the accusations made against him and in fact denounced those "in and out of the media who have been exploiting the Watergate affair so recklessly" in what he called an effort "to subvert the decisive mandate of the 1972 election." However, he said that the burgeoning scandal might result in an impeachment process that would tear the country even further apart and so he declared: "There is one way and one way only by which the crisis can be resolved, and the country pulled out of the Watergate swamp. I propose an extraordinary act of statesmanship and courage—an act at once noble and heartbreaking; at once serving the greater interests of the nation, the institution of the Presidency, and the stated goals for which he so successfully campaigned"—Nixon's resignation.{{Cite news|date=March 24, 1974|title=The Resignation Question|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/24/archives/the-resignation-question-senator-jacob-k-javits.html|access-date=February 8, 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208223035/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/24/archives/the-resignation-question-senator-jacob-k-javits.html|url-status=live}} Buckley was the first major conservative figure to call for resignation. Nixon did not resign at that time but eventually did lose the support of key Republican figures, including Senator Barry Goldwater.Goldberg, Robert Alan (1995), Barry Goldwater, the standard scholarly biography, page 282 Nixon ultimately resigned on August 9, 1974.{{cite web|url = https://www.huffpost.com/entry/august-9th-in-history-the_b_11407210|title = August 9th in History: The Resignation of Richard Nixon|date = August 9, 2016|access-date = August 26, 2019|archive-date = June 11, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190611163313/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/august-9th-in-history-the_b_11407210|url-status = live}}

Buckley was the lead petitioner in a landmark Supreme Court case, Buckley v. Valeo (1976), which "shaped modern campaign-finance law".Russello, Gerald. [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/mr-buckley-goes-to-washington/ "Mr. Buckley Goes to Washington"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628140238/http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/mr-buckley-goes-to-washington/ |date=June 28, 2017 }}, The American Conservative, April 11, 2011, quoted in review of Freedom at Risk, Retrieved June 17, 2019

1976 'Draft Buckley' movement

During the 1976 Republican National Convention, then-Senator Jesse Helms encouraged a "Draft Buckley" movement in an effort to stop the nomination of Ronald Reagan for president. (Reagan had announced that Pennsylvania Senator Richard Schweiker would be his running mate; Helms objected to this decision, believing Schweiker to be too liberal.) The "Draft Buckley" movement was rendered moot when President Gerald Ford narrowly won the party's nomination on the first ballot.''World Almanac and Book of Facts 1977{{cite web |url=http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=489475 |title=Vanderbilt Television News Archive |publisher=Tvnews.vanderbilt.edu |date=August 11, 1976 |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-date=September 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930043002/http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=489475 |url-status=live }}

Post-Senate business career

File:Reagan Contact Sheet C11099 (cropped).jpg on November 3, 1982]]

After his loss in the 1976 election, Buckley worked for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, becoming a member of the executive committee and of its board of directors and eventually advancing to the position of corporate director.{{Cite news|date=May 10, 1977|title=People and Business; Ex-Senator Buckley Joins Firm Of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/10/archives/people-and-business-exsenator-buckley-joins-firm-of-donaldson.html|access-date=February 8, 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208222405/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/10/archives/people-and-business-exsenator-buckley-joins-firm-of-donaldson.html|url-status=live}}

Reagan administration

After his 1980 loss in Connecticut's U.S. Senate election, Buckley served in the Reagan administration, first as an undersecretary of State for security assistance, managing military aid to strategically located countries, and then as President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich from 1982 to 1985.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/08/trump-clinton-james-buckley-despair-column/90004742/|title=James Buckley on 2016: 'I am an unhappy man': Column|website=USA TODAY|access-date=February 25, 2019|archive-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200608191844/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/08/trump-clinton-james-buckley-despair-column/90004742/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Hon. James L. Buckley|url=https://fedsoc.org/contributors/james-buckley|access-date=February 8, 2022|website=fedsoc.org|date=October 25, 2021 |archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208222406/https://fedsoc.org/contributors/james-buckley|url-status=live}}

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

On October 16, 1985, Buckley was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The seat had previously been held by Judge Edward Allen Tamm. Buckley was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 17, 1985, and received his commission on December 17, 1985. He assumed senior status on August 31, 1996.{{FJC Bio|nid=1378511|inline=yes}}

Later life and death

Buckley became the oldest living former elected U.S. senator following the death of Fritz Hollings in April 2019 and became the oldest living former U.S. senator following the death of Jocelyn Burdick in December 2019.{{Cite news |date=April 8, 2019 |title=With Ernest Hollings's Death, New York's James Buckley Now Oldest Ex-Senator |work=The Intelligencer |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/with-hollings-death-new-yorks-buckley-oldest-ex-senator.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201016145927/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/with-hollings-death-new-yorks-buckley-oldest-ex-senator.html |archive-date=October 16, 2020}}{{Cite web |date=2019-12-27 |title=Jocelyn Burdick, 1st ND Woman to Serve in US Senate, Dies |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_jocelyn-burdick-1st-nd-woman-serve-us-senate-dies/6181732.html |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}

Buckley turned 100 on March 9, 2023. He died from injuries suffered in a fall, in Washington, D.C. on August 18, 2023, at age 100.{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Jack |title=James L. Buckley, R.I.P. |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/james-l-buckley-r-i-p/ |access-date=August 18, 2023 |publisher=National Review |date=August 18, 2023}}

Political positions

Buckley introduced and led the passage of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. In 2010, however, he publicly supported amending the law because college athletic departments were using it to hide sexual abuse allegations.{{Cite magazine |date=March 15, 2015 |title=Yale Law School Is Deleting Its Admissions Records, and There's Nothing Students Can Do About It |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/121297/yale-law-deletes-admissions-records-congress-must-fix-ferpa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512030325/https://newrepublic.com/article/121297/yale-law-deletes-admissions-records-congress-must-fix-ferpa |archive-date=May 12, 2022}}

Buckley voted against a minimum wage increase in 1974.

Buckley was one of eight senators to vote against the Equal Rights Amendment.{{Cite news |date=April 18, 1974 |title=Obscure Buckley Vaults Into Political Maelstrom |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/18/archives/obscure-buckley-vaults-into-political-maelstrom-obscure-buckley.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112072433/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/18/archives/obscure-buckley-vaults-into-political-maelstrom-obscure-buckley.html |archive-date=November 12, 2022}}

During the 2016 presidential election Buckley was critical of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump. He stated that his brother William and Ronald Reagan would have been shocked by Trump's actions. He suggested that he mostly agreed with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson.{{Cite news |date=September 8, 2016 |title=James Buckley on 2016: 'I am an unhappy man': Column |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/08/trump-clinton-james-buckley-despair-column/90004742/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512030817/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/08/trump-clinton-james-buckley-despair-column/90004742/ |archive-date=May 12, 2022}}

Electoral history

{{Election box begin|title = 1970 Conservative Party United States Senate ballot}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Conservative Party of New York State

|candidate = James L. Buckley

|votes = 379.1

|percentage = 89.14%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Conservative Party of New York State

|candidate = Kevin P. McGovern

|votes = 35.8

|percentage = 8.42%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Conservative Party of New York State

|candidate = Abstention

|votes = 10.4

|percentage = 2.45%

|change =

}}

{{Election box total|

|votes = 425.3

|percentage = 100.00%

|change =

}}

{{Election box begin|title = 1970 New York United States Senate election}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Conservative Party of New York State

|candidate = James L. Buckley

|votes = 2,179,640

|percentage = 36.91%

|change = +34.33%

}}

{{Election box candidate

|party = Independent Alliance

|candidate = James L. Buckley

|votes = 108,550

|percentage = 1.84%

|change = +1.84%

}}

{{Election box candidate

|party = Total

|candidate = James L. Buckley

|votes = 2,288,190

|percentage = 38.75%

|change = +36.17%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Richard Ottinger

|votes = 2,171,232

|percentage = 36.77%

|change = -18.74%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Charles Goodell (incumbent)

|votes = 1,178,679

|percentage = 19.96%

|change = -17.74%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Liberal Party of New York

|candidate = Charles Goodell (incumbent)

|votes = 225,793

|percentage = 3.82%

|change = -0.34%

}}

{{Election box candidate

|party = Total

|candidate = Charles Goodell (incumbent)

|votes = 1,434,472

|percentage = 24.29%

|change = -13.41%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Communist Party USA

|candidate = Arnold Johnson

|votes = 4,097

|percentage = 0.07%

|change = +0.07%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Socialist Workers Party (United States)

|candidate = Kipp Dawson

|votes = 3,549

|percentage = 0.06%

|change = +0.01%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Socialist Labor Party of America

|candidate = John Emanuel

|votes = 3,204

|percentage = 0.05%

|change = -0.04%

}}

{{Election box total|

|votes = 5,904,744

|percentage = 100.00%

|change =

}}

{{Election box begin

| title=1976 U.S. Senate election in New York{{sfn|Moore|Preimesberger|Tarr|2001|pp=1290}}}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| candidate = Pat Moynihan

| votes = 3,238,511

| percentage = 51.26%

| change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Liberal Party of New York

| candidate = Pat Moynihan

| votes = 184,083

| percentage = 2.91%

| change =

}}

{{Election box winning candidate

| party = Total

| candidate = Pat Moynihan

| votes = 3,422,594

| percentage = 54.17%

| change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| candidate = James L. Buckley (incumbent)

| votes = 2,525,139

| percentage = 39.96%

| change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Conservative Party of New York

| candidate = James L. Buckley (incumbent)

| votes = 311,494

| percentage = 4.93%

| change =

}}

{{Election box candidate

| party = Total

| candidate = James L. Buckley (incumbent)

| votes = 2,836,633

| percentage = 44.89%

| change = N/A

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Communist Party (United States)

| candidate = Herbert Aptheker

| votes = 25,141

| percentage = 0.40%

| change = {{increase}}0.37

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Socialist Workers Party (United States)

| candidate = Marcia Gallo

| votes = 16,350

| percentage = 0.26%

| change = {{increase}}0.20

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Libertarian Party (United States)

| candidate = Martin E. Nixon

| votes = 10,943

| percentage = 0.17%

| change = {{increase}}0.17

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = U.S. Labor Party

| candidate = Elijah C. Boyd

| votes = 6,716

| percentage = 0.11%

| change = {{increase}}0.11

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 6,318,377

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box gain with party link no swing

| winner = Democratic Party (United States)

| loser = Republican Party (United States)

}}

{{Election box begin no change | title=Connecticut United States Senate election, 1980{{cite web | url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3895 | title=Our Campaigns – CT US Senate Race – Nov 04, 1980 | access-date=June 8, 2023 | archive-date=June 9, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609191506/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3895 | url-status=live }}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| candidate = Chris Dodd

| votes = 763,969

| percentage = 56.34%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| candidate = James Buckley

| votes = 581,884

| percentage = 42.91%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| party = Libertarian Party (United States)

| candidate = Jerry Brennan

| votes = 5,336

| percentage = 0.39%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| party = Concerned Citizens Party

| candidate = Andrew J. Zemel

| votes = 4,772

| percentage = 0.35%

}}

{{Election box candidate no change

| party = Write-in

| candidate = All others

| votes = 114

| percentage = 0.01%

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 1,356,075

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box hold with party link no swing

| winner = Democratic Party (United States)

}}

Publications

If Men Were Angels: A View from the Senate (1975){{cite magazine|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1976/03/04/catos-gang/|title=Cato's Gang|first=Garry|last=Wills|journal=The New York Review of Books |date=March 4, 1976|volume=23 |issue=3 |via=www.nybooks.com|access-date=February 25, 2019|archive-date=February 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225163528/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1976/03/04/catos-gang/|url-status=live}}
Gleanings from an Unplanned Life (2006){{cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2010/07/19/dinner-buckleys/|title=Dinner with the Buckleys|website=National Review|date=June 30, 2010|access-date=February 25, 2019|archive-date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802005753/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2010/07/19/dinner-buckleys/|url-status=live}}
Freedom at Risk: Reflections on Politics, Liberty, and the State (2010){{cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/buckley-stops-here-john-j-miller/|title=The Buckley Stops Here|website=National Review|date=December 14, 2010|access-date=February 25, 2019|archive-date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802025121/https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/buckley-stops-here-john-j-miller/|url-status=live}}
Saving Congress from Itself: Emancipating the States & Empowering Their People (2014){{cite web|url=https://humanevents.com/2015/03/20/review-saving-congress-from-itself-emancipating-the-states-empowering-their-people-by-james-l-buckley/|title=Review: Saving Congress from Itself: Emancipating the States & Empowering Their People, by James L. Buckley|last=Andrew Kloster|date=March 20, 2015|website=Human Events|access-date=May 2, 2019|archive-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502205040/https://humanevents.com/2015/03/20/review-saving-congress-from-itself-emancipating-the-states-empowering-their-people-by-james-l-buckley/|url-status=live}}

Notes

References

Works cited

{{cite book|editor-last1=Moore |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Preimesberger |editor-first2=Jon |editor-last3=Tarr |editor-first3=David |title=Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |year=2001 |isbn=1568026021 |url=https://archive.org/details/congressionalqua0002unse |url-access=registration}}

External links

{{Biographical Directory of Congress|B001026}}
{{FJC Bio|309|nid=1378511|name=James Lane Buckley}}
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070427012205/http://www.jameslbuckley.com/ Official website of James L. Buckley]}} [incorrect link]
{{C-SPAN|5382}}

{{s-bef

| before = Charles Goodell

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = United States Senator (Class 1) from New York

| years = 1971–1977

| alongside = Jacob Javits

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Daniel Patrick Moynihan

}}

{{s-bef