Priscilla Langford Buckley (October 17, 1921 – March 25, 2012) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

journalist and author who was the longtime managing editor of ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

''.

Biography

Buckley was born in New York City. She was the third of 10 children of

William Frank Buckley Sr. William Frank Buckley (July 11, 1881 – October 5, 1958) was an American lawyer and oil developer. He became influential in Mexican politics during the military dictatorship of Victoriano Huerta but was later expelled when Álvaro Obre ...

, and Aloise Josephine Antonia Steiner. Buckley's siblings included future

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

and federal judge James L. Buckley and

William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

, a future conservative author. She graduated with a degree in history in 1943 from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, while there, one of her best friends was

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

. She worked for the CIA in the 1950s and for

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

from 1944 to 1948 (in New York) and again from 1953 to 1956 (in Paris). Priscilla Buckley started working at William F. Buckley's publication, ''

'', in 1956. She became managing editor of the publication in 1959 following the retirement of the publication's original managing editor,

Suzanne La Follette Suzanne Clara La Follette (June 24, 1893 – April 23, 1983) was an American journalist and author who advocated for libertarian feminism in the first half of the 20th century. As an editor she helped found several magazines. She was an early and a ...

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...

recommended Buckley for the position. Buckley served as managing editor until 1985 and continued working at ''National Review'' until 1999. She worked at ''National Review'' for a total of 43 years. According to ''The New York Times'', Buckley's influence at ''National Review'' led some to refer to the publication as "Miss Buckley’s Finishing School for Young Ladies and Gentlemen of Conservative Persuasion". Writers whom she helped to train include

Paul Gigot Paul Anthony Gigot (; born May 24, 1955) is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning conservative political commentator and editor of the editorial pages for ''The Wall Street Journal''. He is also the moderator of the public affairs television ser ...

, Bill McGurn,

Mona Charen Mona Charen Parker (; born February 25, 1957) is a columnist, journalist, and political commentator in the United States. She has written three books: ''Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First'' (200 ...

, and

Anthony R. Dolan Anthony R. Dolan (born in Norwalk, Connecticut, July 7, 1948) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and was a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan from March 1981 until the end of Reagan's second term in 1989. Buckley authored ''String of Pearls'', a 2001 memoir about international journalism, and a 2005 book entitled ''Living It Up with National Review: A Memoir''. Buckley died of kidney failure on March 25, 2012 at the age of 90 at Great Elm, the house in

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

where she lived and where she and her siblings had grown up.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, Priscilla Langford 1921 births 2012 deaths Buckley family National Review people Writers from Connecticut Writers from New York City People from Sharon, Connecticut 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers