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''National Review'' is an
American conservative Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conser ...
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. 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 ...
in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is
Rich Lowry Richard Lowry (; born August 22, 1968) is an American writer who is the former editor and now editor-in-chief of ''National Review'', an American conservative news and opinion magazine. Lowry became editor of ''National Review'' in 1997 when selec ...
, while the editor is
Ramesh Ponnuru Ramesh Ponnuru (; born August 16, 1974) is an American conservative thinker, political pundit, and journalist. He has been a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute since 2012. He is the editor of ''National Review'' magazine, a colu ...
. Since its founding, the magazine has played a significant role in the development of conservatism in the United States, helping to define its boundaries and promoting
fusionism In American politics, fusionism is the philosophical and political combination or "fusion" of traditionalist and social conservatism with political and economic right-libertarianism. The philosophy is most closely associated with Frank Meyer. ...
while establishing itself as a leading voice on the
American right Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative ...
. The online version, ''National Review Online'', is edited by Philip Klein and includes free content and articles separate from the print edition. The free content is limited, but National Review Plus allows ad-free and unlimited access to both online and print articles.


History


Background

Before ''National Review''s founding in 1955, the
American right Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative ...
was a largely unorganized collection of people who shared intertwining philosophies but had little opportunity for a united public voice. They wanted to marginalize the
antiwar An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to ...
, noninterventionistic views of the Old Right. In 1953, moderate Republican
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
was president, and many major magazines such as the '' Saturday Evening Post'', ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', and ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...
'' were strongly conservative and anticommunist, as were many newspapers including the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' and '' St. Louis Globe-Democrat''. A few small-circulation conservative magazines, such as ''
Human Events ''Human Events'' is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, ''Human Events'' became a digital-only publication in 2013. ''Human Events'' takes its name from the first sentence of the U ...
'' and ''
The Freeman ''The Freeman'' (formerly published as ''The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty'' or ''Ideas on Liberty'') was an American libertarian magazine, formerly published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). It was founded in 1950 by John Chamberl ...
'', preceded ''National Review'' in developing Cold War Conservatism in the 1950s.


Early years

In 1953,
Russell Kirk Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...
published ''The Conservative Mind'', which traced an intellectual bloodline from
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
Frohnen, Bruce, Jeremy Beer, and Jeffrey O. Nelson (2006) ''American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia''. ISI Books, Wilmington, DE, pp. 186–188 to the Old Right in the early 1950s. This challenged the notion among intellectuals that no coherent conservative tradition existed in the United States. A young
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 ...
was greatly influenced by Kirk's concepts. Buckley had money; his father grew rich from oil fields in Mexico. He first tried to purchase ''
Human Events ''Human Events'' is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, ''Human Events'' became a digital-only publication in 2013. ''Human Events'' takes its name from the first sentence of the U ...
'', but was turned down. He then met
Willi Schlamm William S. (Willi) Schlamm (originally Wilhelm Siegmund Schlamm, June 10, 1904 – September 1, 1978) was an Austrian-American journalist. Biography Schlamm was born into an upper middle class Jewish family in Przemyśl, Galicia, in the Austrian ...
, the experienced editor of ''
The Freeman ''The Freeman'' (formerly published as ''The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty'' or ''Ideas on Liberty'') was an American libertarian magazine, formerly published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). It was founded in 1950 by John Chamberl ...
''; they would spend the next two years raising the $300,000 necessary to start their own weekly magazine, originally to be called ''National Weekly''. (A magazine holding the trademark to the name prompted the change to ''National Review''.) The statement of intentions read:
Middle-of-the-Road, qua Middle of the Road, is politically, intellectually, and morally repugnant. We shall recommend policies for the simple reason that we consider them right (rather than “non-controversial”); and we consider them right because they are based on principles we deem right (rather than on popularity polls)... The New Deal revolution, for instance, could hardly have happened save for the cumulative impact of ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' and ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'', and a few other publications, on several American college generations during the twenties and thirties.


Contributors

On November 19, 1955, Buckley's magazine began to take shape. Buckley assembled an eclectic group of writers: traditionalists, Catholic intellectuals, libertarians and ex-Communists. The group included: Revilo P. Oliver,
Russell Kirk Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...
,
James Burnham James Burnham (November 22, 1905 – July 28, 1987) was an American philosopher and political theorist. He chaired the New York University Department of Philosophy; his first book was ''An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis'' (1931). Burn ...
, Frank Meyer, and Willmoore Kendall, Catholics L. Brent Bozell and
Garry Wills Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Genera ...
. The former ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' editor
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) ...
, who had been a Communist spy in the 1930s and was now intensely anti-Communist, became a senior editor. In the magazine's founding statement Buckley wrote:
The launching of a conservative weekly journal of opinion in a country widely assumed to be a bastion of conservatism at first glance looks like a work of supererogation, rather like publishing a royalist weekly within the walls of Buckingham Palace. It is not that of course; if ''National Review'' is superfluous, it is so for very different reasons: It stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no other is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.
As editors and contributors, Buckley especially sought out intellectuals who were ex-Communists or had once worked on the far Left, including Whittaker Chambers, William Schlamm,
John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...
, Frank Meyer and James Burnham. When James Burnham became one of the original senior editors, he urged the adoption of a more pragmatic editorial position that would extend the influence of the magazine toward the political center. Smant (1991) finds that Burnham overcame sometimes heated opposition from other members of the editorial board (including Meyer, Schlamm, William Rickenbacker, and the magazine's publisher
William A. Rusher William Allen Rusher (July 19, 1923 – April 16, 2011) was an American lawyer, author, activist, and conservative columnist. He was one of the founders of the conservative movement and was one of its most prominent spokesmen for thirty years as ...
), and had a significant effect on both the editorial policy of the magazine and on the thinking of Buckley himself.


Mission to conservatives

''National Review'' aimed to make conservative ideas respectable, in an age when the dominant view of conservative thought was, as expressed by Columbia professor Lionel Trilling:
beralism is not only the dominant but even the sole intellectual tradition. For it is the plain fact that nowadays there are no conservative or reactionary ideas in general circulation... the conservative impulse and the reactionary impulse do not... express themselves in ideas but only... in irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas.
William Buckley Jr. said of the purpose of ''National Review'':
'National Review''stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it… it is out of place because, in its maturity, literate America rejected conservatism in favor of radical social experimentation…since ideas rule the world, the ideologues, having won over the intellectual class, simply walked in and started to…run just about everything. There never was an age of conformity quite like this one, or a camaraderie quite like the Liberals’.
''National Review'' promoted Barry Goldwater heavily during the early 1960s. Buckley and others involved with the magazine took a major role in the "Draft Goldwater" movement in 1960 and the 1964 presidential campaign. ''National Review'' spread his vision of conservatism throughout the country. The early ''National Review'' faced occasional defections from both left and right.
Garry Wills Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Genera ...
broke with ''National Review'' and became a liberal commentator. Buckley's brother-in-law, L. Brent Bozell Jr. left and started the short-lived
traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions, and presentations of Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church before the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council ( ...
magazine, ''
Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...
'' in 1966.


Defining the boundaries of conservatism

Buckley and Meyer promoted the idea of enlarging the boundaries of conservatism through
fusionism In American politics, fusionism is the philosophical and political combination or "fusion" of traditionalist and social conservatism with political and economic right-libertarianism. The philosophy is most closely associated with Frank Meyer. ...
, whereby different schools of conservatives, including
libertarians Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's enc ...
, would work together to combat what were seen as their common opponents. Buckley and his editors used his magazine to define the boundaries of conservatism—and to exclude people or ideas or groups they considered unworthy of the conservative title. Therefore, they attacked the
John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...
, George Wallace, and anti-Semites. Buckley's goal was to increase the respectability of the conservative movement; as
Rich Lowry Richard Lowry (; born August 22, 1968) is an American writer who is the former editor and now editor-in-chief of ''National Review'', an American conservative news and opinion magazine. Lowry became editor of ''National Review'' in 1997 when selec ...
noted: "Mr. Buckley's first great achievement was to purge the American right of its kooks. He marginalized the anti-Semites, the John Birchers, the
nativists Nativism is the political policy of promoting or protecting the interests of native or indigenous inhabitants over those of immigrants, including the support of immigration-restriction measures. In scholarly studies, ''nativism'' is a standard ...
and their sort." In 1957, ''National Review'' editorialized in favor of white leadership in the South, arguing that "the central question that emerges... is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas where it does not predominate numerically? The sobering answer is Yes – the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race." By the 1970s ''National Review'' advocated colorblind policies and the end of affirmative action. In the late 1960s, the magazine denounced segregationist George Wallace, who ran in Democratic primaries in 1964 and 1972 and made an independent run for president in 1968. During the 1950s, Buckley had worked to remove
anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
from the conservative movement and barred holders of those views from working for ''National Review''. In 1962 Buckley denounced
Robert W. Welch Jr. Robert Henry Winborne Welch Jr. (December 1, 1899 – January 6, 1985) was an American businessman, political organizer, and conspiracy theorist. He was wealthy following his retirement from the candy business and used his wealth to sponsor ...
and the
John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...
as "far removed from common sense" and urged the Republican Party to purge itself of Welch's influence.


After Goldwater

After Goldwater was defeated by Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Buckley and ''National Review'' continued to champion the idea of a conservative movement, which was increasingly embodied in Ronald Reagan. Reagan, a longtime subscriber to ''National Review'', first became politically prominent during Goldwater's campaign. ''National Review'' supported his challenge to President Gerald Ford in 1976 and his successful 1980 campaign. During the 1980s ''National Review'' called for tax cuts, supply-side economics, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and support for President Reagan's foreign policy against the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. The magazine criticized the
Welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...
and would support the Welfare reform proposals of the 1990s. The magazine also regularly criticized President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. It first embraced, then rejected, Pat Buchanan in his political campaigns. A lengthy 1996 ''National Review'' editorial called for a "movement toward" drug legalization. In 1985, ''National Review'' and Buckley were represented by attorney
J. Daniel Mahoney John Daniel Mahoney (September 7, 1931 – October 23, 1996) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Education and career Born in Orange, New Jersey, Mahoney received a Bachelor of Arts d ...
during the magazine's $16 million libel suit against ''
The Spotlight ''The Spotlight'' was a weekly newspaper in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct antisemitic Liberty Lobby. ''The Spotlight'' ran articles and editorials professing a "populist and ...
''.


Political views and content

Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American commentator, classicist, and military historian. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for ''The New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'', ...
, a regular contributor since 2001, sees a broad spectrum of
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
and anti-
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
contributors: The magazine has been described as "the bible of
American conservatism Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative ...
".Hari, Johann, "Titanic: Reshuffling the Deck Chairs on the National Review Cruise", in ''The New Republic'', vol. 237, issue 1, July 2, 2007 (in ''MasterFile Premier'' (EbscoHost) (PDF) (subscription may be required)), p. 31


Donald Trump

In 2015, the magazine published an editorial entitled "Against Trump," calling him a "philosophically unmoored political opportunist" and announcing its opposition to his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. Since Trump's election to the presidency, the ''National Review'' editorial board has continued to criticize him. However, contributors to ''National Review'' and ''National Review Online'' take a variety of positions on Trump. Lowry and Hanson support him, while ''National Review'' contributors such as Ramesh Ponnuru and Jonah Goldberg have remained critical of Trump. In a ''Washington Post'' feature on conservative magazines, T.A. Frank noted: "From the perspective of a reader, these tensions make National Review as lively as it has been in a long time."


''National Review Online''

A popular feature of ''National Review'' is the web version of the magazine, ''National Review Online'' ("N.R.O."), which includes a digital version of the magazine, with articles updated daily by ''National Review'' writers, and conservative blogs. The on-line version is called ''N.R.O.'' to distinguish it from the paper magazine. It also features free articles, though these deviate in content from its print magazine. The site's editor is Phillip Klein, who replaced
Charles C. W. Cooke Charles Christopher William Cooke (born 4 November 1984), professionally known simply as Charles C. W. Cooke, is a British-born American journalist and a senior writer at National Review Online. Early life and education Cooke and his sister gre ...
. Each day, the site posts new content consisting of conservative, libertarian, and neoconservative opinion articles, including some syndicated columns, and news features. It also features two blogs: * The Corner – postings from a select group of the site's editors and affiliated writers discussing the issues of the day * Bench Memos – legal and judicial news and commentary
Markos Moulitsas Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (; born September 11, 1971), often known by his username and former military nickname "Kos" ( ), is an American blogger who is the founder and publisher of Daily Kos, a blog focusing on liberal and Democratic Party p ...
, who runs the
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
''
Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism. Daily Kos was ...
'' web-site, told reporters in August 2007 that he does not read conservative blogs, with the exception of those on N.R.O.: "I do like the blogs at the ''National Review''—I do think their writers are the best in the onservativeblogosphere," he said.


National Review Institute

The N.R.I. works in policy development and helping establish new advocates in the conservative movement. National Review Institute was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1991 to engage in policy development, public education, and advocacy that would advance the conservative principles he championed. In 2019, the
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) ...
family had NRI stop an award in Chambers' name following award to people whom the family found objectionable.


Finances

As with most political opinion magazines in the United States, ''National Review'' carries little corporate advertising. The magazine stays afloat from subscription fees, donations, and black-tie fundraisers around the country. The magazine also sponsors cruises featuring ''National Review'' editors and contributors as lecturers. Buckley said in 2005 that the magazine had lost about $25,000,000 over 50 years.


Presidential primary endorsements

''National Review'' sometimes endorses a candidate during the primary election season. Editors at ''National Review'' have said, "Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate." This statement echoes what has come to be called "The Buckley Rule". In a 1967 interview, in which he was asked about the choice of presidential candidate, Buckley said, "The wisest choice would be the one who would win... I'd be for the most right, viable candidate who could win." The following candidates were officially endorsed by ''National Review'': * 1956: Dwight Eisenhower * 1960: ''No endorsement'' * 1964: Barry Goldwater * 1968:
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
* 1972: John M. Ashbrook * 1976: Ronald Reagan * 1980: Ronald Reagan * 1984: Ronald Reagan * 1988: George H. W. Bush * 1992: ''No endorsement'' * 1996: ''No endorsement'' * 2000:
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
* 2004: ''No endorsement'' * 2008: Mitt Romney * 2012: ''No endorsement'' * 2016:
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
* 2020: ''No endorsement''


Editors and contributors

The magazine's current editor-in-chief is
Rich Lowry Richard Lowry (; born August 22, 1968) is an American writer who is the former editor and now editor-in-chief of ''National Review'', an American conservative news and opinion magazine. Lowry became editor of ''National Review'' in 1997 when selec ...
. Many of the magazine's commentators are affiliated with think-tanks such as
The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...
and
American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...
. Prominent guest authors have included Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney,
Peter Thiel Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in F ...
, and
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
in the on-line and paper edition.


Notable current contributors

Current and past contributors to ''National Review'' (''N.R.'') magazine, ''National Review Online'' (''N.R.O.''), or both: *
Elliott Abrams Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer, who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He is current ...
* Michael D. Aeschliman *
Richard Brookhiser Richard Brookhiser (; born February 23, 1955) is an American journalist, biographer and historian. He is a senior editor at ''National Review''. He is most widely known for a series of biographies of America's founders, including Alexander Hamilt ...
, senior editor *
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 ...
*
Charles C. W. Cooke Charles Christopher William Cooke (born 4 November 1984), professionally known simply as Charles C. W. Cooke, is a British-born American journalist and a senior writer at National Review Online. Early life and education Cooke and his sister gre ...
, editor of ''N.R.O.''. *
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
* Frederick H. Fleitz *
John Fund John H. Fund (born April 8, 1957) is an American political journalist. He is currently the national-affairs reporter for National Review Online and a senior editor at ''The American Spectator''. Life and career Fund was born in Tucson, Arizona. ...
, ''N.R.O.'' national-affairs columnist *
Jim Geraghty Jim Geraghty () is the senior political correspondent of ''National Review'' and author of several books. In addition to writing for ''National Review'', Geraghty blogs for ''National Review Online'' and is a former reporter for States News Service ...
*
Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American commentator, classicist, and military historian. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for ''The New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'', ...
* Paul Johnson *
Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s with the public ...
*
Larry Kudlow Lawrence Alan Kudlow (born August 20, 1947) is an American conservative television personality and financial program host for the Fox network who served as the Director of the National Economic Council during the Trump Administration from 2018 ...
* Stanley Kurtz *
Yuval Levin Yuval Levin (born April 6, 1977) is a conservative American political analyst, academic, and journalist. He is the founding editor of ''National Affairs'' (2009–present), the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the Americ ...
*
James Lileks James Lileks is an American journalist, columnist, author, and blogger living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the creator of The Gallery of Regrettable Foods website. Career Columnist Lileks began his writing career as a columnist for the ...
*
Rob Long Robert Long is an American writer and television producer in Hollywood. As a screenwriter and executive producer for the long-running television program ''Cheers'', he received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations in 1992 and 1993. Long created the ...
, ''N.R.'' contributing editor *
Kathryn Jean Lopez Kathryn Jean Lopez (born March 22, 1976) is an American conservative columnist who is nationally syndicated by the United Feature Syndicate. She is also the former editor and currently an editor-at-large of ''National Review Online''. Her nicknam ...
*
Rich Lowry Richard Lowry (; born August 22, 1968) is an American writer who is the former editor and now editor-in-chief of ''National Review'', an American conservative news and opinion magazine. Lowry became editor of ''National Review'' in 1997 when selec ...
, ''N.R.'' editor * Andrew C. McCarthy * John McCormack, ''N.R.''
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
* John J. Miller, ''N.R.'' national political reporter * Stephen Moore, financial columnist *
Deroy Murdock Deroy Murdock (born 1963) is an American political commentator and a contributing editor with ''National Review Online''. A native of Los Angeles, Murdock lives in New York City. A first-generation American, his parents were born in Costa Rica. ...
*
Jay Nordlinger Jay Nordlinger (born November 21, 1963) is an American journalist. He is a senior editor of ''National Review'', and a book fellow of the National Review Institute. He is also a music critic for ''The New Criterion'' and ''The Conservative''. In ...
*
Michael Novak Michael John Novak Jr. (September 9, 1933 – February 17, 2017) was an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than forty books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known ...
*
John O'Sullivan John O'Sullivan may refer to: Sports *John O'Sullivan (cricketer) (1918–1991), New Zealand cricketer *John O'Sullivan (cyclist) (born 1933), Australian cyclist *John O'Sullivan (footballer) (born 1993), Irish footballer for Accrington Stanley *J ...
, ''N.R.'' editor-at-large *
Ramesh Ponnuru Ramesh Ponnuru (; born August 16, 1974) is an American conservative thinker, political pundit, and journalist. He has been a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute since 2012. He is the editor of ''National Review'' magazine, a colu ...
*
David Pryce-Jones David Eugene Henry Pryce-Jones (born 15 February 1936) is a British conservative author and commentator. Early life Pryce-Jones was born on 15 February 1936, in Vienna, Austria. He was educated at Eton and earned a degree in history at Magdal ...
*
Tom Rogan Tom Rogan (; born 8 February 1986) is a political journalist based in Washington, D.C. Career Rogan grew up and was educated in London, in the United Kingdom. He attended St John's School, Leatherhead for secondary school/high school before a ...
*
Reihan Salam Reihan Morshed Salam (; born 29 December 1979) is a conservative American political commentator, columnist and author who since 2019 has been president of the Manhattan Institute. He was previously executive editor of ''National Review'', a column ...
*
Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. ...
* Katherine Timpf *
Armond White Armond White (born ) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and ''Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly ''New York Press'' (1997–201 ...
*
George F. Will George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC. Gold, Hadas (May 8, 2017)." ...
*
Kevin D. Williamson Kevin Daniel Williamson (born September 18, 1972) is an American conservative political commentator. He is the national correspondent for The Dispatch. Previously, he was the roving correspondent for ''National Review''. Career Williamson has ...
, correspondent at ''N.R.''


Notable past contributors

*
Jonah Goldberg Jonah Jacob Goldberg (born March 21, 1969) is an American conservative syndicated columnist, author, political analyst, and commentator. The founding editor of ''National Review Online'', from 1998 until 2019 he was an editor at '' National Revie ...
* David French *
Renata Adler Renata Adler (born October 19, 1938) is an American author, journalist, and film critic. Adler was a staff writer-reporter for ''The New Yorker'', and in 1968–69, she served as chief film critic for ''The New York Times''. She is also a write ...
*
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
*
Wick Allison Lodowick Brodie Cobb "Wick" Allison (March 17, 1948September 1, 2020) was an American magazine publisher and author. He was the owner of ''D Magazine'', a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth, which he co-founded in 1974. He was also ...
*
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
* Edward C. Banfield *
Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, and ...
*
Peter L. Berger Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian. Berger became known for his work in the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of religion, study of modernization, and theor ...
* Allan Bloom * George Borjas *
Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American jurist who served as the solicitor general of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the U.S. Cour ...
* L. Brent Bozell Jr. *
Peter Brimelow Peter Brimelow (born 13 October 1947) is a British-born American white nationalist and white supremacist writer. He is the founder of the website VDARE, an anti-immigration site associated with white supremacy, white nationalism, and the alt-r ...
* Pat Buchanan *
Jed Babbin Jed Lloyd Babbin (born March 16, 1950 in New York City, New York) is an American lawyer, writer, and former United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense who served during the first Bush administration. He is the author of the political books ' ...
*
Myrna Blyth Myrna Blyth (born 1939) is an American editor and writer. She currently works at AARP Media and has authored four books, including the nonfiction book ''Spin Sisters''. Biography She was born in New York and graduated from Bennington College. Bly ...
* Christopher Buckley *
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 ...
, founder *
James Burnham James Burnham (November 22, 1905 – July 28, 1987) was an American philosopher and political theorist. He chaired the New York University Department of Philosophy; his first book was ''An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis'' (1931). Burn ...
* John R. Chamberlain *
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) ...
*
Shannen W. Coffin Shannen Wayne Coffin (born September 19, 1969) is an American attorney for the Washington, D.C. law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP who until early November 2007 served as general counsel to American Vice President Dick Cheney.Time, 21 August 2007: ' ...
*
Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 1917 – 3 August 2015) was a British historian and poet. A long-time research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Conquest was most notable for his work on the Soviet Union. His books ...
*
Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of '' Film Commen ...
* Robert Costa *
Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of ...
*
Arlene Croce Arlene Louise Croce (born May 5, 1934) founded '' Ballet Review'' magazine in 1965. She was a dance critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1973 to 1998. Career Prior to Croce's long career as a dance writer, she also wrote film criticis ...
*
Guy Davenport Guy Mattison Davenport (November 23, 1927 – January 4, 2005) was an American writer, translator, illustrator, painter, intellectual, and teacher. Life Guy Davenport was born in Anderson, South Carolina, in the foothills of Appalachia on Novem ...
*
John Derbyshire John Derbyshire (born 3 June 1945) is a British-born American far-right political commentator, writer, journalist and computer programmer. He was once known as a paleoconservative, until he was fired from the '' National Review'' in 2012 for ...
*
Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won ...
*
John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...
*
Rod Dreher Raymond Oliver Dreher Jr. (born February 14, 1967), known as Rod Dreher, is an American writer and editor living in Budapest, Hungary. He is a senior editor and blogger at ''The American Conservative'' and author of several books, including ''H ...
*
Dinesh D'Souza Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. He has written over a dozen books, several of them ''New York Times'' best-sellers. In 2012, D' ...
*
John Gregory Dunne John Gregory Dunne (May 25, 1932 – December 30, 2003) was an American writer. He began his career as a journalist for ''Time'' magazine before expanding into writing criticism, essays, novels, and screenplays. He often collaborated with his wif ...
*
Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...
*
Eric Ehrmann Eric Wayne Ehrmann (; born August 13, 1946) is an author who follows sports, politics and WMD issues in Latin America. His view that Argentina and Brazil participate in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and honor the Treaty of Tlatelolco ...
* Thomas Fleming *
Samuel T. Francis Samuel Todd Francis (April 29, 1947 – February 15, 2005), known as Sam Francis, was an American columnist and writer. He was a columnist and editor for the conservative ''Washington Times'' until he was dismissed after making racist remarks at ...
*
Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
*
David Frum David Jeffrey Frum (; born June 30, 1960) is a Canadian-American political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, who is currently a senior editor at ''The Atlantic'' as well as an MSNBC contributor. In 2003, Frum a ...
*
Francis Fukuyama Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama (; born October 27, 1952) is an American political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar and writer. Fukuyama is known for his book ''The End of History and the Last Man'' (1992), which argue ...
*
Eugene Genovese Eugene Dominic Genovese (May 19, 1930 – September 26, 2012) was an American historian of the American South and American slavery. He was noted for bringing a Marxist perspective to the study of power, class and relations between planters and ...
*
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 seri ...
*
Nathan Glazer Nathan Glazer (February 25, 1923 – January 19, 2019) was an American sociologist who taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and for several decades at Harvard University. He was a co-editor of the now-defunct policy journal ''The Pu ...
* Stuart Goldman *
Paul Gottfried Paul Edward Gottfried (born November 21, 1941) is an American paleoconservative political philosopher, historian, and writer. He is a former Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. He is editor-in-chief of the paleocons ...
* Mark M. Goldblatt * Michael Graham *
Ethan Gutmann Ethan Gutmann is an American writer, researcher, author, and a senior research fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation whose work has investigated surveillance and organ harvesting in China. Education Gutmann earn ...
*
Ernest van den Haag Ernest van den Haag (September 15, 1914 – March 21, 2002) was a Dutch-born American sociologist, social critic, and author. He was John M. Olin Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University. He was best known for his contr ...
* Jeffrey Hart *
Henry Hazlitt Henry Stuart Hazlitt (; November 28, 1894 – July 9, 1993) was an American journalist who wrote about business and economics for such publications as ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Nation'', ''The American Mercury'', ''Newsweek'', and '' ...
*
Will Herberg William Herberg (June 30, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was an American writer, intellectual and scholar. A communist political activist during his early years, Herberg gained wider public recognition as a social philosopher and sociologist of relig ...
*
Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...
* Harry V. Jaffa *
Arthur Jensen Arthur Robert Jensen (August 24, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American psychologist and writer. He was a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen was known for his work in psychometrics an ...
*
John Keegan Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan (15 May 1934 – 2 August 2012) was an English military historian, lecturer, author and journalist. He wrote many published works on the nature of combat between prehistory and the 21st century, covering land, ...
* Willmoore Kendall * Hugh Kenner *
Florence King Florence Virginia King (January 5, 1936 – January 6, 2016) was an American novelist, essayist and columnist. While her early writings focused on the American South and those who live there, much of King's later work was published in ''Nati ...
*
Phil Kerpen Philip G. Kerpen is an American free-market policy analyst and political organizer. He is the president of American Commitment, a conservative 501(c)(4) organization which he founded in 2012. He previously served for over five years as the vice pres ...
*
Russell Kirk Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...
*
Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer (; March 13, 1950 – June 21, 2018) was an American political columnist. A moderate liberal who turned independent conservative as a political pundit, Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for his columns in ''The Washingt ...
*
Irving Kristol Irving Kristol (; January 22, 1920 – September 18, 2009) was an American journalist who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism". As a founder, editor, and contributor to various magazines, he played an influential role in the intellectual ...
*
Dave Kopel David B. Kopel (born January 7, 1960) is an American author, attorney, gun rights advocate, and contributing editor to several publications. As of August 2021, he is research director of the Independence Institute, associate policy analyst at ...
*
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (; 31 July 1909 – 26 May 1999) was an Austrian political scientist and philosopher. He opposed the ideas of the French Revolution as well as those of communism and Nazism. Describing himself as a "conserv ...
*
Michael Ledeen Michael Arthur Ledeen (; born August 1, 1941) is an American historian, and neoconservative foreign policy analyst. He is a former consultant to the United States National Security Council, the United States Department of State, and the United St ...
*
Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Rober ...
* John Leonard *
Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show '' The Mark Levin Show'', as well as '' Life, Liberty & Levin'' on Fox News. Levin worked in the admin ...
*
John Lukacs John Adalbert Lukacs (; Hungarian: ''Lukács János Albert''; 31 January 1924 – 6 May 2019) was a Hungarian-born American historian and author of more than thirty books. Lukacs was Roman Catholic. Lukacs described himself as a reactionary. L ...
*
Arnold Lunn Sir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn (18 April 1888 – 2 June 1974) was a skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952. His father was a lay Methodist minister, but Lunn was an agn ...
*
Richard Lynn Richard Lynn (born 20 February 1930) is a controversial English psychologist and author. He is a former professor emeritus of psychology at Ulster University, having had the title withdrawn by the university in 2018. He is former assistant edit ...
* Alasdair MacIntyre *
Harvey C. Mansfield Harvey Claflin Mansfield Jr. (born March 21, 1932) is an American political philosopher. He is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1962. He has held Guggenheim and NEH Fellowships a ...
* Malachi Martin * Frank Meyer * Scott McConnell *
Forrest McDonald Forrest McDonald, Jr. (January 7, 1927 – January 19, 2016) was an American historian who wrote extensively on the early national period of the United States, republicanism, and the presidency, but he is possibly best known for his polemic on the ...
*
Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and Sociology, sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberali ...
* Alice-Leone Moats *
Raymond Moley Raymond Charles Moley (September 27, 1886 – February 18, 1975) was an American political economist. Initially a leading supporter of the New Deal, he went on to become its bitter opponent before the end of the Great Depression. Early life and ...
*
Thomas Molnar Thomas Steven Molnar (; hu, Molnár Tamás; 26 July 1921, in Budapest, Hungary – 20 July 2010, in Richmond, Virginia) was a Catholic philosopher, historian and political theorist. Life Molnar completed his undergraduate studies at the Univer ...
*
Charles Murray Charles Murray may refer to: Politicians *Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore (1661–1710), British peer *Charles Murray (author and diplomat) (1806–1895), British author and diplomat *Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (1841–1907), Scotti ...
*
Richard Neuhaus Richard John Neuhaus (May 14, 1936–January 8, 2009) was a prominent Christian cleric (first in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, then ELCA pastor and later as a Catholic priest) and writer. Born in Canada, Neuhaus moved to the United Stat ...
*
Robert Nisbet Robert Alexander Nisbet (; September 30, 1913 – September 9, 1996) was an American sociologist, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Vice-Chancellor at the University of California, Riverside, and an Albert Schweitzer Profess ...
*
Robert Novak Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...
*
Michael Oakeshott Michael Joseph Oakeshott FBA (; 11 December 1901 – 19 December 1990) was an English philosopher and political theorist who wrote about philosophy of history, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of ...
*
Kate O'Beirne Kate Walsh O'Beirne (September 23, 1949 – April 23, 2017) was the President of National Review Institute. She was the Washington editor of ''National Review''. Her column, "Bread and Circuses," covered Congress, politics, and U.S. domesti ...
*
Conor Cruise O'Brien Donal Conor David Dermot Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008), often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish diplomat, politician, writer, historian and academic, who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 ...
* Revilo P. Oliver *
Thomas Pangle Thomas Lee Pangle, (born 1944) is an American political scientist. He holds the Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies in the Department of Government and is Co-Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Core Texts and Ideas at the University ...
* Isabel Paterson * Ezra Pound *
Paul Craig Roberts Paul Craig Roberts (born April 3, 1939) is an American economist and author. He formerly held a sub-cabinet office in the United States federal government as well as teaching positions at several U.S. universities. He is a promoter of supply-side ...
*
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
*
William A. Rusher William Allen Rusher (July 19, 1923 – April 16, 2011) was an American lawyer, author, activist, and conservative columnist. He was one of the founders of the conservative movement and was one of its most prominent spokesmen for thirty years as ...
, publisher, 1957–88 *
J. Philippe Rushton John Philippe Rushton (December 3, 1943 – October 2, 2012) was a Canadian psychologist and author. He taught at the University of Western Ontario until the early 1990s, and became known to the general public during the 1980s and 1990s for resea ...
*
Steve Sailer Steven Ernest Sailer (born December 20, 1958) is an American paleoconservative journalist, movie critic, blogger, and columnist. He is a former correspondent for UPI and a columnist for ''Taki's Magazine'' and VDARE, a website associated with w ...
*
Pat Sajak Pat Sajak ( , born Patrick Leonard ; born October 26, 1946) is an American television personality and game show host. He is best known as the host of the American television game show ''Wheel of Fortune'', a position he has held since 1981. Fo ...
* Catherine Seipp *
Daniel Seligman Daniel Seligman (September 25, 1924 – January 31, 2009) was an American newspaper editor and columnist at '' Fortune'' magazine from 1950 to 1997. He also wrote for ''Forbes'', ''Commentary'', ''The American Mercury'', '' Commonweal'', and ''The ...
* John Simon * Joseph Sobran *
Thomas Sowell Thomas Sowell (; born June 30, 1930) is an American author, economist, political commentator and academic who is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he becam ...
*
Whit Stillman John Whitney Stillman (born January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director and actor known for his 1990 film ''Metropolitan'', which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He is also known for his other fil ...
*
Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...
*
Mark Steyn Mark Steyn (; born December 8, 1959) is a Canadian author and a radio and television presenter. He has written several books, including ''The New York Times'' bestsellers '' America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It'', ''After America: G ...
*
Thomas Szasz Thomas Stephen Szasz ( ; hu, Szász Tamás István ; 15 April 1920 – 8 September 2012) was a Hungarian-American academic and psychiatrist. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate M ...
*
Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Life Early years Tate was born near Winchester, ...
*
Jared Taylor Samuel Jared Taylor (born September 15, 1951) is an American white supremacist and editor of ''American Renaissance'', an online magazine espousing such opinions, which was founded by Taylor in 1990. He is also the president of ''American Ren ...
*
Terry Teachout Terrance Alan Teachout (February 6, 1956 – January 13, 2022) was an American author, critic, biographer, playwright, stage director, and librettist. He was the drama critic of ''The Wall Street Journal'', the critic-at-large of '' Commentary ...
*
Taki Theodoracopulos Panagiotis "Taki" Theodoracopulos (; el, text=Παναγιώτης "Τάκης" Θεοδωρακόπουλος ; born 11 August 1936) is a Greek journalist and writer. He has lived in New York City, London, and Gstaad. Early life and education ...
*
Ralph de Toledano Ralph de Toledano (August 17, 1916 – February 3, 2007) was an American writer in the conservative movement in the United States throughout the second half of the 20th century. A friend of Richard Nixon, he was a journalist and editor of ''Newsw ...
*
Auberon Waugh Auberon Alexander Waugh (17 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) was an English journalist and novelist, and eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was widely known by his nickname "Bron". After a traditional classical education at Downsid ...
*
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...
*
Richard M. Weaver Richard Malcolm Weaver, Jr (March 3, 1910 – April 1, 1963) was an American scholar who taught English at the University of Chicago. He is primarily known as an intellectual historian, political philosopher, and a mid-20th century conservative ...
* Robert Weissberg * Frederick Wilhelmsen *
Garry Wills Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, political philosopher, and historian, specializing in American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Genera ...
*
James Q. Wilson James Quinn Wilson (May 27, 1931 – March 2, 2012) was an American political scientist and an authority on public administration. Most of his career was spent as a professor at UCLA and Harvard University. He was the chairman of the Council of A ...
*
Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
*
Byron York Byron York (born December 5, 1955) is an American conservative correspondent, pundit, columnist, and author. Education York holds a B.A. from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and an M.A. from the University of Chicago. Career ...
* R. V. Young


Washington editors

* L. Brent Bozell Jr. *
Neal B. Freeman Neal B. Freeman (born July 5, 1940, in New York City) is an American businessman and political writer. He served as the Washington Editor for ''National Review'' magazine from 1978 until 1981. Freeman graduated with a bachelor's degree from Yale ...
*
George Will George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC. Gold, Hadas (May 8, 2017)." ...
, 1973–76 * Neal B. Freeman, 1978–81 *
John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...
, 1981–89 *
William McGurn William McGurn (born December 4, 1958) is an American political writer. He was the chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush from June 2006 until February 2008, replacing Michael Gerson. Early life McGurn was born December 4, 1958, in San ...
, 1989–1992 *
Kate O'Beirne Kate Walsh O'Beirne (September 23, 1949 – April 23, 2017) was the President of National Review Institute. She was the Washington editor of ''National Review''. Her column, "Bread and Circuses," covered Congress, politics, and U.S. domesti ...
* Robert Costa, 2012–13 * Eliana Johnson, 2014–16


Controversies


Barack Obama

In June 2008, six days after
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
conceded to
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
in the Democratic primary, ''National Review'' correspondent Jim Geraghty published an article encouraging the Obama campaign to release the candidate's birth certificate in order "to squash all the conspiracy theories once and for all." Geraghty's column notes that it was unlikely that Obama was born in
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
. Attorney Loren Collins, who has tracked the origins of birther movement for years, says that Geraghty may have "unwittingly shined a national spotlight on a fringe internet theory." Geraghty's article "became fodder for cable television." In a 2009 editorial, the ''National Review'' editorial board called conspiracies about Obama's citizenship "untrue," writing: "Like Bruce Springsteen, he has a lot of bad political ideas; but he was born in the U.S.A." One ''National Review'' article said that Obama's parents could be
communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
because “for a white woman to marry a black man in 1958, or ’60, there was almost inevitably a connection to explicit Communist politics”. As of 2018,
Dinesh D'Souza Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. He has written over a dozen books, several of them ''New York Times'' best-sellers. In 2012, D' ...
was on the ''National Review'' masthead, despite stirring controversy for a number of years making inflammatory remarks and promoting conspiracy theories. D'Souza was no longer on the magazine's masthead in 2020. In comments that earned rebukes from ''National Review'' colleagues, D'Souza said that billionaire
George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...
was a "collection boy for Hitler and the Nazis," attacked
Roy Moore Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as the 27th and 31st chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed fr ...
accuser Beverly Young Nelson, said that accusations against Roy Moore were “most likely fabricated,” and described
Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...
as an "overrated Democrat".


Climate change

According to Philip Bump of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''National Review'' "has regularly criticized and rejected the scientific consensus on climate change". In 2015, the magazine published an intentionally deceptive graph that suggested that there was no
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. The graph set the lower and upper bounds of the chart at -10 and 110 degree Fahrenheit and zoomed out so as to obscure warming trends. In 2017, ''National Review'' published an article alleging that a top NOAA scientist claimed that the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
engaged in data manipulation and rushed a study based on faulty data in order to influence the Paris climate negotiations. The article largely repeated allegations made in the '' Daily Mail'' without independent verification. The scientist in question later rejected the claims made by ''National Review'', noting that he did not accuse NOAA of data manipulation but instead raised concerns about "the way data was handled, documented and stored, raising issues of transparency and availability". In 2014, climate scientist Michael E. Mann sued the ''National Review'' after columnist Mark Steyn accused Mann of fraud and referenced a quote from Competitive Enterprise Institute writer Rand Simberg that called Mann "the
Jerry Sandusky Gerald Arthur Sandusky (born January 26, 1944) is an American retired college football coach and convicted serial child molester. Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State University under Joe ...
of climate science, except that instead of molesting children, he has molested and tortured data." Civil liberties organizations such as the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and several publications such as ''The Washington Post'' expressed support for ''National Review'' in the lawsuit, filing
amicus brief An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
s in their defense.


Ann Coulter 9/11 column

Two days after the 9/11 attacks, ''National Review'' published a column by
Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of ...
in which she wrote of Muslims, "This is no time to be precious about locating the exact individuals directly involved in this particular terrorist attack. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war." ''National Review'' later called the column a "mistake" and fired Coulter as a contributing editor.


Jeffrey Epstein

In 2019, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that ''National Review'' was one of three news outlets (along with ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' and ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'') that had published stories written by
Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American sex offender and financier. Epstein, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, began his professional life by teaching at the Dalton School in Manhattan, des ...
's publicists. The ''National Review'' article was written by Christina Galbraith, Epstein's publicist at the time the article was published in 2013. The ''National Review'' bio for Galbraith described her as a science writer. The ''National Review'' retracted the article in July 2019 with apologies and spoke of new methods being used to better filter freelance content.


References


Bibliography

* Allitt, Patrick. ''The Conservatives: Ideas and Personalities Throughout American History'' (2010
excerpt and text search
* Bayley, Edwin R. ''Joe McCarthy and the Press'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 1981). * Birzer, Bradley J. ''Russell Kirk: American Conservative'' (University Press of Kentucky, 2015). * Bogus, Carl T. ''Buckley: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism'' (2011) * Bridges, Linda and Coyne, John R., Jr. ''Strictly Right: William F. Buckley Jr. and the American Conservative Movement'' (John Wiley and Sons, 2007). * Critchlow, Donald T. ''The Conservative Ascendancy: How the Right Made Political History'' (2007) * Del Visco, Stephen. "Yellow peril, red scare: race and communism in National Review." ''Ethnic and Racial Studies'' 42.4 (2019): 626–644. * Frisk, David B. ''If Not Us, Who?: William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement'' (2011) * Frohnen, Bruce et al. eds. ''American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia'' (2006) * Hart, Jeffrey. ''The Making of the American Conservative Mind: The National Review and Its Times'' (2005), a view from the inside * Hemmer, Nicole. ''Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016). * Johnston, Savannah Eccles. "The Rise of Illiberal Conservatism: Immigration and Nationhood at National Review." ''American Political Thought'' 10.2 (2021): 190–216. * Judis, John B. ''William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives'' (2001) * Nash, George. ''The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945'' (2006; 1st ed. 1978) * Nemeth, Julian. "The Passion of William F. Buckley: Academic Freedom, Conspiratorial Conservatism, and the Rise of the Postwar Right." ''Journal of American Studies'' 54.2 (2020): 323–350. * Owen, Christopher H. ''Heaven Can Indeed Fall: The Life of Willmoore Kendall'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021). * Schneider, Gregory. ''The Conservative Century: From Reaction to Revolution'' (2009) * Smant, Kevin J. ''Principles and Heresies: Frank S. Meyer and the Shaping of the American Conservative Movement'' (2002) () * Walsh, David Austin
"The Right-Wing Popular Front: The Far Right and American Conservatism in the 1950s."
''Journal of American History'' 107.2 (2020): 411–432.


External links

*
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