William F. Buckley and the Intellectual History of American Conservatism

Matthew Continetti, author of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, joins prize-winning biographer Sam Tanenhaus to discuss Tanenhaus’s new book, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, and to trace American conservatism’s evolution from the Progressive Era, through the rise of William F. Buckley Jr., to today. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. 

This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on December 11th, 2025. 

Resources 

• Sam Tanenhaus, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America (2025) 
• Matthew Continetti, The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism (2022) 

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