How William F. Buckley’s ‘Anti-Campaign’ for New York Mayor Re-Invigorated Conservatism and Sparked a National Phenomenon

by Ben Weingarten for Encounter

For the 50th anniversary of one of the most fascinating mayoral campaigns in New York City’s — and indeed our nation’s history — Encounter Books has re-released William F. Buckley Jr.’s timeless campaign chronicle, The Unmaking of a Mayor.

In connection therewith, we thought there no one better to discuss the book with than longtime National Review publisher Jack Fowler.

One of our more fascinating exchanges concerned the uniqueness and brilliance of Buckley’s ‘anti-campaign.’ For Buckley disavowed all notions of political pandering, held complete and utter disdain for identity politics and was determined to run a campaign solely on the basis of the merits of his ideas.

You can listen to our full interview here. Or listen to/read a transcript of what Fowler had to say about Buckley’s philosophy, strategy and tactics below.

Ben Weingarten: …He [Buckley] starts a campaign where…whether or not he actually believes [he can win] or desires to be the mayor is in question right from the start — especially at least for the press. He runs what I would call sort of an ‘anti-campaign.’ It’s more than unconventional. He explicitly isn’t pandering to different voting blocs, and he actually disdains that sort of politics. So describe a little but what makes his campaign so unique.

Jack Fowler: Well…that…approach is unique. He detested that — the approach to voting blocs by the major parties. He just saw that as bribery in one sense: Bribery to the unions here, to the teachers there, to this neighborhood, etc. And at some point, somebody’s paying the bill, and no one’s really collectively benefiting.

And the proof of that — not collectively benefiting — was the ghastly state that the City [New York] was in: Economic decline, crime-ridden, filthy, a great exodus from the city.

So Bill took that head on, that kind of approach to the old voting bloc, but Bill was still…a magazine editor, a columnist. He had a day job. So he didn’t abandon his life totally. He [said] I’m gonna campaign in a way that’s going to allow me to keep doing what I want to do, but also to make a point.

But Neal Freeman who wrote the foreword to this book also talks about the fact that Bill was fearless. I have to say, I mean I’ve been at National Review now over 30 years, and Bill’s, G-d rest his soul is gone a few. But I think I knew Bill pretty well as a person. And he was a fearless guy. I mean he was a real man. The dude was not afraid of doing things that you would say “What are you crazy? What are you going, driving, taking your sailboat out into a Nor’easter. You know, stay home tonight.”

But Bill would wade into crowds, particularly what would be considered very hostile crowds, and engage in toe to toe, intellectual, not jargony, but intellectual discussions of real issues, that may not have won the crowd over on the issues, but certainly cast this [conservative] movement.

Now this is — we’re talking about him running for mayor — but he’s also reviving the [conservative] movement. And he is putting a face of intelligence, and charm, and wit on conservatism.

And he is making conservatism something that is appealable to people who…want to join those ranks, and maybe not horrific to those who don’t want to join its ranks, but don’t want to think it’s you know, “These guys are a bunch of [as Gore Vidal would call them] crypto-Nazis.” You know the easy go-to line.

Bill would wade into crowds, take on all comers, and what began as a campaign that he himself made into — I don’t even want to call it a joke, we’ll call it a ‘lark’ at the very outset — you know at the very outset [”What if you win?”] “I will demand a recount,” which made his very small staff cringe.

He gained the respect of the media, which was very important, in comparison to the two other candidates running, John Lindsay and poor Abe Beame, who did eventually come mayor. But he was head and shoulders above them in every way, personality-wise.

And he actually made this race into a national race, a little bit aided and abetted by the fact there was a newspaper strike. The election itself became more covered — it was covered by television more-so than the papers that weren’t printing. And you know that was Bill’s milieu.

Actually this campaign and how Bill handled things and his charm and wit and his debate tactics and his goading and — that became the reason why Firing Line, the great program that he hosted for over a quarter of a century, it began the next year.

Bill thrived in this media environment. I mean he thrived in the written environment also, but he took what was a lark and made it into something extremely significant.

And, towards the end of the race — this happens in many elections where you have third party candidates — at the end with very rare exceptions (one of those being Bill’s own brother who was elected Senator several years later), most people go home to…prior to the election, show their real stance to some pollsters. And Bill was polling over thirty percent (30%) in some polls, and he never believed he was going to win. He believed that they were fleeting numbers. But that kind of stuff late October sent a shockwave through the New York and the American political community.

He really — you know this wouldn’t have happened if it was Bill Jones, or Bill Fowler. None of this would have happened…This man is a very, very unique individual. He’s not only very intelligent, but Bill was one of those Swiss Army knives with 30 tools in them. I don’t know if he could dance or sing, but he did about everything beyond that.

Listen to our complete interview here. And be sure to follow Encounter Books on Soundcloud.

To read Buckley’s classic The Unmaking of a Mayor click here.

Ben Weingarten is a writer, podcaster, and Founder & CEO of ChangeUp Media LLC, a media consulting and publication services firm. You can find his work at benweingarten.com, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Previously, Ben was publishing manager and editor of TheBlaze Books, host and producer of TheBlaze Books podcast, and a frequent Blaze contributor focusing on defense, economics, politics, and history. Prior to joining TheBlaze, he worked as a financial advisor specializing in bankruptcies and restructurings. Ben is a graduate of Columbia University, where he majored in economics-political science and contributed to outlets including the Breitbart sites and the Ludwig von Mises Institute. In 2015 he was selected as a Publius Fellow to the Claremont Institute.