A landmark biography shows the storied conservative leader walking intellectual, journalistic, and financial tightropes.

In breaking news this week, former New York Times Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus finally finished his authorized biography of William F. Buckley Jr. It took him only about 25 years to complete the 1 ...

His escape from the penal colony, which saw one convict shot and others turn back in despair, was itself against the odds. His survival for 30 years in the bush before re-emerging as the “Wild ...

William F. Buckley Jr.’s influence has been overstated, writes Bruce Fein in a review of a new biography of the late conservative thinker.

VACAVILLE, Calif. – Edgar Smith, a murder convict who got off New Jersey's death row with the help of columnist William F. Buckley only to later confess to the crime, died in a California prison ...

VACAVILLE — Edgar Smith, a murder convict who got off New Jersey’s death row with the help of columnist William F. Buckley only to later confess to the crime, died in a California prison ...

For decades, William F. Buckley Jr. was a one-of-a-kind character: an author and columnist, and a celebrity intellectual. He hosted a TV debate show, "Firing Line," and was often a guest on late ...

So began the strange, riveting and horrifying odyssey of Mr. Smith, who became a cause celebre when influential conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. began campaigning for his release in ...

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 18 of the New York edition with the headline: How William F. Buckley Jr. Wrote Trump’s Playbook. Order Reprints ...

Escaped convict William Buckley: The man who gave us Buckley’s chance. His escape from the penal colony, which saw one convict shot and others turn back in despair, was itself against the odds.

Edgar Smith, a murder convict who got off New Jersey's death row with the help of columnist William F. Buckley only to later confess to the crime, died in a Bay Area prison hospital. He was 83.