F. H. Buckley Addresses Washington and Lee
Nathan Richendollar ('19)-
On Thursday, January 25, F. H. Buckley, Donald Trump, Jr.’s speechwriter at the 2016 Republican National Convention and a prominent Professor of Law at George Mason’s Scalia School of Law, visited the Law School. Professor Buckley has written a string of widely acclaimed books, such as The Morality of Laughter, The Once and Future King, and most recently, The Republic of Virtue. Professor Buckley has appeared on news outlets from Fox and the BBC to C-SPAN. Raised in Western Canada, Buckley lives in D. C. Speaking courtesy of the J. D. Futch, III Speaker Forum and the law school’s Federalist Society with Foothill Mama’s BBQ on the attendee’s fingers and forks, Professor Buckley delivered a provocative address on his view that the U.S. Constitution is an anti-corruption document designed to prevent the largesse of the British administrative state from coming to America’s shores, a scheme that has failed in the face of the Progressive onslaught since 1900.
Buckley’s Canadian roots showed in his analysis of America’s 1787 Constitutional Convention and the nature of liberty. Buckley contended that James Madison’s ideas for a government of separated powers worked against liberty by destroying responsibility for government action, and that Governour Morris of Pennsylvania is a more consequential Founding Father than Madison. While passingly lampooning political correctness, Buckley said he believes that federalism is the most important legacy of the Founders. Buckley then opened the floor for questions, whereupon several alumni, professors, and students asked him his views of James Madison’s political evolution, the way forward, and contemporary politics. Buckley later told the Spectator executive staff that Washington and Lee students’ courtesy, intelligence, and incisiveness greatly impressed him, and that he greatly enjoyed his visit to our Shenandoah Valley campus. Come and see the Futch Forum’s next featured speaker, Ronald F. Maxwell, director of Gettysburg, Gods and Generals, and Copperhead.