Carson never interrupted his guests. He'd ask a question and stay out of the way. He'd only interject to help the conversatio along. He was the absolute master.
William F. Buckley's first language was Spanish. His father ran Buckley Oil in Mexico when Buckley was a child. English was his second language. Not too many people know that because he was something of an Irish-Catholic Anglophile. I met him once when he was filming a special edition of FIRING LINE. He had to catch a plane and was under a time limit and yet he re-shot a segment as if he had all the time in the world. Never lost his cool, except with Gore Vidal.
@@Alex_Plante the comment with Chomsky was a joke as it alluded to the Vidal incident which had only happened 2 weeks before, that's why they both laughed as well as the audience.
Many, many years ago Buckley used to come into the Radio Shack store I worked at in CT from time to time. Super-nice guy, friendly and surprisingly down-to-earth.
How about “superordinate” or “hubristic”? There are probably more, but these jumped out at me the 2nd time through. Oh, and Johnny uses the word “modicum” which you don’t hear much on TV anymore either.
It reminds me of a good friend who is known for his vocabulary. For instance, he has used the words "irascible" & "desiccated" (though not during the same day😉). All the best from NY.
It will have been pre-planned, sensing that some people are massively over- impressed by arcane words and would not notice the mediocrity of his thinking.
Buckley was a National Treasure. In a way, so was Carson. That he would have a man like Buckley on his show, when he didn't necessarily agree with him on every issue. When you look at the little boys who populate late night TV, Carson's stock goes thru the roof.
@@dspreis I thoroughly enjoyed Carson. I was pointing out how a guy who probably was Leftist in his mindset could have Buckley as a guest without being 'canceled' or any other negativity involved. But in the end, Buckley was far more significant.
@@jasonbeard4713 I suggested he run in the presidential election in 1976 and he wrote back, "Thanks but my schedule is full." He ran once for Mayor of NYC and was asked what would be the first thing he would do should he win the election and he said, "Demand a recount."
I often disagreed with Mr. Buckley's opinions, but he supported them with cogent, well reasoned argumentation. In sharp contrast to some of today's "conservatives", who seem to offer only broad, market researched attacks on their opponents, and grade school level insults. What's most discouraging, is that many of their supporters seem to prefer that.
The problem with this example is that WFB is not very intelligent. What he says is very simplistic and he usually fails horribly in debate. Don't be fooled by the accent and the manner in which he speaks.
@@juliosanchez95 Having just recently read a great deal of Buckley's non-fiction(Speeches and Essays, mainly) I can safely affirm he was indeed an intelligent man, just maybe not a widely-read one. You could definitely tell when he researched and when he didn't./What he knew from what he didn't know.
Excellent point! I love the intelligent discourse! We could all learn so much from these types of interactions! I miss this greatly. It is absolutely tragic to see where we are now. I feel it will get much worse!
@@romanticwarrior97 All late night shows/hosts on networks are a waist of time now! 2 hr podcast is the only way to have guests communicate with intelligence.
@@lodestarsprayer5660 Yeah, I agree they're all crap now. The only problem with the podcasts is you have to devote a lot of time. I liked back in the day tuning in to late-night for a few laughs before turning in. Carson did a joke about the left, a joke about the right then moved on. Now it's all douche bag hosts with their parties politicos preaching. No thanks.
Sheer pleasure to hear someone like him with such a command of the English language. I remember him in an interview either Carson or Cavet in which express his worry, that America was becoming like a banana republic. Wonder what he would say about the state of affairs today in which we do resemble a huge banana republic without the bananas.
No I’m glad he’s gone . He doesn’t belong in these decadent times. His philosophy was to always vote for the most viable right wing candidate. Unlike the vulgar crowd, he didn’t cast his vote on appearances.
His arch enemy was a flaming, egotistical, atheist liberal. The type that won't be content until all of his enemies and intellectual challengers were dead. Truman Capote was another of his "enemies".
Carson’s versatility never ceased to amaze me. He could amuse you with silly physical comedy as well as entertain you with the most intelligent conversations and here he shows he can keep up with the consummate intellectual William F. Buckley, Jr. When describing the difference between the United States and the Soviet Union, Buckley correctly pointed out that while Johnny Carson’s show had survived fifteen years in the free world, he would only last ten seconds in the communist world. Carson quickly replied “The same holds true for you!” (or words to that effect). I would add that so long as you can voice your opinions openly without having a Vladimir Putin silence you, so long as you can watch anything you want on RUclips, including a show where a guest openly criticizes communism and defends the United States as a country that fights for freedom, then ours is still a land of the free and it’s a freedom worth fighting for, even worth dying for. I would fight to the death for my right to keep watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson!
I considered it a great compliment when my friends at work gave me a William F. Buckley Quote of the Day Calendar for Christmas. They told me I was the only person in the office who could possibly understand his vocabulary. I guess they felt that I was something of a sesquipedalian, which I suppose is better than being an ultracrepidarian.
I remember coming across a roundtable discussion on TV a long time ago. It featured Buckley as well as several other intellectuals. I thought, this is incredible--the amount of intelligence in that room all at once! I think I automatically got smarter just from watching that for a few minutes.
I think perhaps the highest homage to Carson was spoken by Letterman on his show the evening after Carson's death was announced. He said (paraphrasing) "....he was the King of late night. We who follow him are mere pretenders to his mantle"
He was the seminal political influence of my life. I read all of his books, his columns, watched Firing Line, and read cover to cover the National Review, from the age of 15 years, on. No American conservative theoretician has impacted modern intellectual American culture like Bill Buckley did. Sadly, nowadays he would probably be thought to be too liberal for the MAGA conservatives because he was balanced and polite and civil to his opponents. I would vote MAGA before I would vote progressive, but it saddens me that intellectual conservatives are so ostracized by todays' 'conservatives.' One of his best friends was Kenneth Galbraith, a very liberal American. He was such a wonderful human being.
The Dalai Lama thinks he is a god as well as being an absolute monarch but is just a moronic and bigoted peasant, so the two had a lot in common i guess
I was amazed how he could go toe-to-roe with just about anybody on any subject. A regular walking encyclopedia. The other person was an expert who specialized in that subject yet Buckley knew as much as he did.
If i were any further left I'd be in outer space--but I knew Bill and he was kind and gracious to me--who he must have regarded as some species of lunatic :)
@@billhaywood3503 Interesting. I'm a moderate/centrist and I feel it necessary that both sides have their say but to do so with respect. He always struck me as immensely thoughtful and good natured. I also respect that he stayed his course however unpopular with humour and understatement. Today's pundits both left and right just seem to be so petulant and strident. How boring.
And Carson did prescient inquiries, not like late night network TV talk shows today, where they'd likely ask Mr. Buckley his opinion of Kim Kardashian's cleavage.
@@timdailey2690 This particular apperance you are watching aired Feb 12, 1980 during the election year. Buckley appeared many times on Tonight Show in 66, 70, 72, 80, 82, 85.
Loved reading Buckley’s personal memoir Miles Gone By..decades long friendships not limited by political beliefs. My late father enjoyed reading his spy novels.
At 0:40, I'm so glad to have finally stumbled upon an exmaple of Buckley speaking Spanish! He probably practised sesquipedalian loquacity in all his languages.
Unlike "normal" teen girls, I rabidly loved WFB. I was precocious in language. I found him fascinating. My other hero was Ralph Nadar. (And even stranger, I lived in a small town in Idaho.)
I’m definitely left of center but I always loved listening to William F Buckley. In college , I braved the hordes of Young Republicans, to hear him. I especially agreed with his views of the Church and the chaos after Vatican Ii
@Brian Delaney If you are left-wing, you've got serious problems. I've studied politics and history longer than you've been alive, and today's left-wing democrats are totalitarian, authoritarian and anti-liberty. They love weak minded voters like you who are duped and manipulated by bullshit propaganda.
Interesting. How many people would have been in the audience? When you say the set was small, I think of it being about 50x20 as the band was there. Is that about right?
In between the stylistic verbiage, Buckley always had his eye on the ball and understood international politics and knew that the Soviets (and the Chinese and any undemocratic society) were on the wrong side of history. I miss him terribly in these times.
@@gegaoli The subject matter is way too complex for even the off-hand comment I posted. But the quote attributed to Churchill that 'democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others that have been tried' is applicable here. There are many forms of representative democracy, not limited to the winner-take-all or tyranny of the majority kinds.
@@davemiller4721 My point is that it’s a waste of time and energy debating economic and political systems the elite set up to divide and control. Soon they will try to tear down to creat a new world system that will have total control as it’s objective. While you debate minutiae.
@@gegaoli while you may be correct, it's still fun to debate these topics - we're talking about world powers - and I see you're watching the video as well.
@@davemiller4721 I will concede I still enjoy the art of debate and logical arguments…so I remember the old days fondly which is why I decided to watch this video.
Ti be, the way he speaks makes things sound not complicated and esoteric, but clear and articulate. That might be because he was reluctant to 'dumb things down' -- a practice which, in the whole, leaves the conversation more muddled than it began. Cheers! :)
Where are the Buckley's, Vidal's, going to come from in the future? These were people of erudition solely for the sake of erudition....NOT money, which is the fascination of the current culture. Others: George Plimpton, Spalding Grey, Peter Ustinov, Norman Mailer...People that were interesting NOT just because they are rich
@@lucianopavarotti2843 I've always been interested to know how much trolls get paid. Do you get like free Ramen and stuff or just head pats for being a good boy?
@@GunShark0 Squillions and squillions. As for the patting, i think Buckley would have shared your fascination with it and been very excited at supplying you with some.
It took me awhile to figure out that he had the “mid Atlantic accent” …. prep school elite…. but I thought he was a pretty cool guy overall & it was different times. R.I.P.
I recently saw an episode of Laugh In he had guested - he took questions from the (very liberal) cast and he was actually quite funny. They asked why he agreed to do the show he said that the producer had promised to fly him to LA in a plane with two right wings.
The problem with this example is that WFB is not very intelligent. What he says is very simplistic and he usually fails horribly in debate. Don't be fooled by the accent and the manner in which he speaks.
We-and I’m honestly referring to all of us despite what we think our political or cultural allegiances are-are so desperate today for genuinely funny, thought-provoking, and sometimes even tiptoeing over the boundaries of good taste late-night talk shows like Carson had where adults actually behaved like adults. I accept online media’s all but rendered much of it obsolete and answers why late-night TV has transmogrified into these partisan niches, but there was once a time when we could all watch the same thing at the same time on a television set and laugh at the same things.
How do you even start to list what this throwback interview on popular television tells us about our culture today?! In a matter of 30 or so years how is it possible that Western nations have fallen so far? 1. It would be unthinkable to even see someone like Buckley on a popular talk show like Kimmel or Fallon simply because his conservative views would not be allowed. Carson was not exactly conservative and, yet, he can sit here and have share his company. Imagine: being able to disagree with someone and still have a conversation without hating them or outright censoring them! 2. It is amazing to hear the public laugh and actually laugh when Buckley makes a joke. The audience may not be as intelligent as he is, but they are certainly intelligent enough to keep up with him. No general audience today would have the intelligence for this. We are all about the quick (and usually tasteless) gratification that delivers immediate but shallow gratification. 3. That there is actual conversation happening -- real 2-way conversation with real depth on real issues -- would be unthinkable today. It's crazy to watch this and realize that this is our planet only a few years ago.
What’s really sad is that intelligent dialogue is not only lacking on late nite tv but even on 24 hr news! There really is no place to hear this quality of discussion!
I used to watch his show every week. What a shame that our current political climate is so uncivilized. I think Buckley would be very sad if he could see what things have turned into .
True. I disagreed with most of his views but he was a man of principle, integrity, wit, and a feel for the importance of history. A sharp contrast to one-third of the Republican Party today.
What strikes me most about this interview is the frank discussion regarding (then) President Carter’s political decisions. Can you imagine such a discussion on the late shows that are on nowadays? We are living in a time where the President’s judgment is beyond reproach within many mainstream media and entertainment outlets, largely due to his political affiliation. We’re left with an overwhelming amount of sycophants and mindless sheep as a result. Who needs objective truth when we have the almighty narrative?
I love seeing William F Buckley! I guess he always holds a pen, pencil or something else. I just adore his opinions and hope to find out more about him.
It's interesting how quickly William Buckley grabbed his Linus blanket pencil from Johnny's desk. Years ago, I rarely missed any show that Buckley was on. He was truly a brilliant intellect.
Check out the debate between the internationally known Mr. James Baldwin and Mr. Buckley. Mr. Baldwin received a standing ovation, which was well deserved.
I used to work for him when I went to Columbia, and had dined with him as well. Unforgettable and I regret the intellectual decline of conservatism which was degraded in the downgrade from Buckley to Limbaugh and the rest...
Buckley was one of the greatest minds of the modern era. All the old Firing Line shows are on RUclips now and I highly recommend you go back and do some deep-dive binge watching.
I particularly recommend his interviews with David Susskind, George Wallace, John Henry Faulk "Should HUAC Be Abolished?" and his debate with James Baldwin from Cambridge (unrelated to Firing Line - ruclips.net/video/5Tek9h3a5wQ/видео.html)
Where is the rest of the interview, anybody ? He was a very good writer both funny and serious Sailed around the world with him as captain and taking his sister and son along. If it is any consolation about his intellectual pride, his son commented that if you ad up the time his very beautiful wife didn't talk to him for a couple of years. Funny that Gore Vidal could annoy him that much.
At JFK airport in NewYork, I got to see Mr. Buckley with my mother. My mother adored him. Surprisingly, there he was, alone and holding luggage and sauntering.. She shouted out at him as Mr. Buckley was stridently heading away to the exit of the terminal. She shouted to him "Mr. Buckley. Keep up the good work!" He turned his head toward us, waved and winked. A gentleman
As a Ronald Reagan acolyte born in 1997, I greatly admire William F. Buckley Jr. A man (or woman) like him should be the most influential conservative in modern America as opposed to the delusional and obnoxious demagoguery of Tucker Carlson. Hopefully he or she will emerge soon enough. It's a necessity at this point for American political and civil discourse.
@@hoggers7572 The left has become absolute (and borderline psychotic) to the degree that I'm not sure they can ever redeem themselves. (Not that everyone on the left is a lunatic.) Conservatives actually have an opportunity to reclaim the rational center. To be the ideology and party of common sense. However, they are currently polluted by a brand of conservatism (hyper-nationalistic populism) that is just as absolute and dangerous as the woke socialism emerging on the left. (My insticts tell me that conservatives will realize just how toxic and dangerous their current brand of conservatism really is and will eventually renounce it. I'd bet my money that they will do so sooner than the left (if they ever contemplate such a possibility of course).)
Tucker Carlson is a product of the times and no more absurd than any of the other political commentators of either side. As brilliant as Buckley was there probably isn't room for him in today's political insanity. He's much too erudite, educated, intellectual and would get steamrolled into oblivion by the loudmouth media, or simply labeled and dismissed as an old white racist.
Carson never interrupted his guests. He'd ask a question and stay out of the way. He'd only interject to help the conversatio along. He was the absolute master.
William F. Buckley's first language was Spanish. His father ran Buckley Oil in Mexico when Buckley was a child. English was his second language. Not too many people know that because he was something of an Irish-Catholic Anglophile. I met him once when he was filming a special edition of FIRING LINE. He had to catch a plane and was under a time limit and yet he re-shot a segment as if he had all the time in the world. Never lost his cool, except with Gore Vidal.
English was actually his third (!) language. French was his second language
He also lost his cool with Noam Chomsky
Yes Gore Vidal! "Listen here you kweer, if you call me a Nazi one more time, I'll sock you in the geedee dern nose, and you'll stay plastered!"
His first language was stuttering his name. Wuh Wuh William F. Buh Buh Buckley June-Yah!
@@Alex_Plante the comment with Chomsky was a joke as it alluded to the Vidal incident which had only happened 2 weeks before, that's why they both laughed as well as the audience.
Johnny could interview anyone, didn't matter who. Mr Carson was that great!!
Check out his interview with Ayn Rand
Cavett HAD to take the intellectual angles.
There was almost nothing left on the bone after Carson was always served first.
If only the late night talk shows of today had intelligent conversations like this.
Stephen Colbert does - he just had the Ukrainian Foreign Minister on about 2 weeks ago.
Never watch the liberal trash of today on talk shows
That would require hosts with an IQ above room temp.
@@rdelrosso2001 Colbert an intellectual? Maybe in a psycho hospital.
@@rdelrosso2001 LOL
"The Russian leaders don't specialize in explaining things to the Russian people."
Many, many years ago Buckley used to come into the Radio Shack store I worked at in CT from time to time. Super-nice guy, friendly and surprisingly down-to-earth.
I worked at sizzler he always came in for a beer
I worked at the adult bookstore and he was a perv.
Nice memory!
That is amazing. Buckley in a Radio Shack location? That would have shocked me.
Nice to hear that about a celebrity.
God how I absolutely LOVE William F. Buckley Jr.
I visited him at his home in Sharon Connecticut back when I was a “Youth for Goldwater in the early Sixties, very gracious, intelligent and humble.
I don’t know if I totally buy the humble part. I miss him, though.
This has to be the only time, in the 68-year history of The Tonight Show, where anyone used the words "interstices" and "refractory".
How about “superordinate” or “hubristic”? There are probably more, but these jumped out at me the 2nd time through.
Oh, and Johnny uses the word “modicum” which you don’t hear much on TV anymore either.
@@brucekuehn4031 Yup.
It reminds me of a good friend who is known for his vocabulary. For instance, he has used the words "irascible" & "desiccated" (though not during the same day😉). All the best from NY.
It will have been pre-planned, sensing that some people are massively over- impressed by arcane words and would not notice the mediocrity of his thinking.
@@lucianopavarotti2843 Funny, a lot of people feel that way about your singing.
Buckley was a National Treasure. In a way, so was Carson. That he would have a man like Buckley on his show, when he didn't necessarily agree with him on every issue. When you look at the little boys who populate late night TV, Carson's stock goes thru the roof.
"In a way, so was Carson" In a way??? Carson is an icon, don't you think? My guess is he'll be remembered a lot longer than WFB will be.
@@dspreis I thoroughly enjoyed Carson. I was pointing out how a guy who probably was Leftist in his mindset could have Buckley as a guest without being 'canceled' or any other negativity involved. But in the end, Buckley was far more significant.
I wrote to him once and he wrote back to me.
What did he write?
@@jasonbeard4713 I'm guessing a letter. :)
@@jasonbeard4713 I suggested he run in the presidential election in 1976 and he wrote back, "Thanks but my schedule is full."
He ran once for Mayor of NYC and was asked what would be the first thing he would do should he win the election and he said, "Demand a recount."
@@kevinhealey6540 Thank you. His sense of humor was amazing.
@@kevinhealey6540 Clever thanks!;-)
In the Liberal New York Bubble I grew up in, Buckley was the big villain. Decades later after that bubble popped I see that he really was so right on.
William Saffire and the reporter from Chicago Times/Tribune(Mike) 2 of the democratic heroes back then. I was a Firing Line guy myself.
Mike Royco?
I often disagreed with Mr. Buckley's opinions, but he supported them with cogent, well reasoned argumentation. In sharp contrast to some of today's "conservatives", who seem to offer only broad, market researched attacks on their opponents, and grade school level insults. What's most discouraging, is that many of their supporters seem to prefer that.
@@tomripsin730 : I remember talk of the "dumbing down" of America in the 1980's. It's succeeded very well.
He was also correct about the coming and syncophancy toward a figure - Donald Trump!
this is absolutely delightful to watch. I'm almost 62 and this is the type of man I looked up to.
Buckley was in a class by himself. No current host could keep up with the man. Intellect, reason & wit. He is sorely missed.
The problem with this example is that WFB is not very intelligent. What he says is very simplistic and he usually fails horribly in debate. Don't be fooled by the accent and the manner in which he speaks.
@@juliosanchez95 Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it scooter - it usually eludes the bottom 10th percentile.
@@juliosanchez95 Having just recently read a great deal of Buckley's non-fiction(Speeches and Essays, mainly) I can safely affirm he was indeed an intelligent man, just maybe not a widely-read one. You could definitely tell when he researched and when he didn't./What he knew from what he didn't know.
Fifty books that made the bestseller list suggests to me that he was widely read.
I enjoyed listening to William F. Buckley. Very intelligent and articulate man. While I did not always agree with his point of view, I respected it.
You respect hurting people?
Yes...when we could still respect the views of people with whom we did not agree...seems like a thousand years ago.
@@edithpiaf9250 - Quite right. Just today I posted something and the response I got was laced with profanity, cut-downs, put-downs.
@@whatthe4423 Intellect is Dead; Long Live Emotion!
Buckley was a bloody bore.
Can anyone imagine an author and intellectualist being a guest on Jimmy Fallon's show for a serious discussion? How culture has declined.
Excellent point! I love the intelligent discourse! We could all learn so much from these types of interactions! I miss this greatly. It is absolutely tragic to see where we are now. I feel it will get much worse!
intellectual...
At least Fallon wouldn't have to use his fake laugh as much.
@@romanticwarrior97 All late night shows/hosts on networks are a waist of time now! 2 hr podcast is the only way to have guests communicate with intelligence.
@@lodestarsprayer5660 Yeah, I agree they're all crap now. The only problem with the podcasts is you have to devote a lot of time. I liked back in the day tuning in to late-night for a few laughs before turning in. Carson did a joke about the left, a joke about the right then moved on. Now it's all douche bag hosts with their parties politicos preaching. No thanks.
Sheer pleasure to hear someone like him with such a command of the English language. I remember him in an interview either Carson or Cavet in which express his worry, that America was becoming like a banana republic. Wonder what he would say about the state of affairs today in which we do resemble a huge banana republic without the bananas.
SAVING THE QUEEN. Im watching this the week she died.
Be careful with the word "banana!". Our people of color will be triggered. And perhaps soon you will be cancelled!
He commands only fakery. Invented accent, horribly clumsy and mangled expression.
@@lucianopavarotti2843 How dare you hurl insults and innuendo at the great Johnny Carson!
@@lucianopavarotti2843
Actually?
Your comments reveal a low IQ, coupled with serious psychological problems.
A self-loathing soy boy.
Wouldn’t it be great to see what he had to say of our current situation.
I have no doubt he would be a Never Trumper. He would have some very choice things to say about Trump.
I think even the brilliant Buckley would be rendered speechless...
@cat Briggs that would be a pleasant experience.
No I’m glad he’s gone . He doesn’t belong in these decadent times.
His philosophy was to always vote for the most viable right wing candidate. Unlike the vulgar crowd, he didn’t cast his vote on appearances.
@harvardkarbodie I think he would say Trump is the only hope left for America.
Gore Vidal often appeared on The Tonight Show as well. In old age, Buckley was civil, while his arch enemy became a drunken and miserable bugger.
His arch enemy was a flaming, egotistical, atheist liberal. The type that won't be content until all of his enemies and intellectual challengers were dead. Truman Capote was another of his "enemies".
Carson’s versatility never ceased to amaze me. He could amuse you with silly physical comedy as well as entertain you with the most intelligent conversations and here he shows he can keep up with the consummate intellectual William F. Buckley, Jr. When describing the difference between the United States and the Soviet Union, Buckley correctly pointed out that while Johnny Carson’s show had survived fifteen years in the free world, he would only last ten seconds in the communist world. Carson quickly replied “The same holds true for you!” (or words to that effect). I would add that so long as you can voice your opinions openly without having a Vladimir Putin silence you, so long as you can watch anything you want on RUclips, including a show where a guest openly criticizes communism and defends the United States as a country that fights for freedom, then ours is still a land of the free and it’s a freedom worth fighting for, even worth dying for. I would fight to the death for my right to keep watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson!
What a smart man. And Johnny wasn't stupid either.
screaming eagle ?
That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever read typed out in my entire life. Congrats genius
William Buckley is unappreciated...raised in Mexico and brilliant.....
He was a fraud
@@lewisc215 What makes you say that?
@@hansa9159 He enabled people like trump
@@lewisc215 Your A Fraud!!!!!!! Trump Was A Great President And A Great Leader!!!!!!!
@Lewis C Feel free to explain.
I considered it a great compliment when my friends at work gave me a William F. Buckley Quote of the Day Calendar for Christmas. They told me I was the only person in the office who could possibly understand his vocabulary. I guess they felt that I was something of a sesquipedalian, which I suppose is better than being an ultracrepidarian.
damn nerds everywhere
😁😁😁
whatever, dork
I remember coming across a roundtable discussion on TV a long time ago. It featured Buckley as well as several other intellectuals. I thought, this is incredible--the amount of intelligence in that room all at once! I think I automatically got smarter just from watching that for a few minutes.
Carson was one of a kind... no one else can even pretend to be on his level
No one else does.
@@AFaceintheCrowd01 I disagree. I'm sure if you asked the clowns on TV today they'd have you believe that they are, in fact, better than Carson.
I think perhaps the highest homage to Carson was spoken by Letterman on his show the evening after Carson's death was announced.
He said (paraphrasing)
"....he was the King of late night. We who follow him are mere pretenders to his mantle"
He was the seminal political influence of my life. I read all of his books, his columns, watched Firing Line, and read cover to cover the National Review, from the age of 15 years, on. No American conservative theoretician has impacted modern intellectual American culture like Bill Buckley did. Sadly, nowadays he would probably be thought to be too liberal for the MAGA conservatives because he was balanced and polite and civil to his opponents. I would vote MAGA before I would vote progressive, but it saddens me that intellectual conservatives are so ostracized by todays' 'conservatives.' One of his best friends was Kenneth Galbraith, a very liberal American. He was such a wonderful human being.
It's odd that someone who can understand and appreciate Buckly would vote for a fascist movement
@@tommyhaynes9157 I see you peacock.
@@tommyhaynes9157 🙄
@@tommyhaynes9157You obviously don't understand what fascism actually is.
@tommyhaynes9157
Do you haters have to infiltrate every single thread?
He filmed an episode of firing line in 1985 when I was attending Middlebury College, he interviewed the Dalai Lama. He was a gigantic intellect.
The Dalai Lama thinks he is a god as well as being an absolute monarch but is just a moronic and bigoted peasant, so the two had a lot in common i guess
I was amazed how he could go toe-to-roe with just about anybody on any subject. A regular walking encyclopedia. The other person was an expert who specialized in that subject yet Buckley knew as much as he did.
@whatthe4423
Yes Dershowitz cripples other lawyers today , and yet Buckley used to go toe to toe with him for an hour!
Sure miss the great Bill Buckley.
American conservatism needs someone almost exactly like him today.
Buckley wouldn’t even recognize the grotesque, anti-intellectual caricature known as ‘conservatism’ today.
If i were any further left I'd be in outer space--but I knew Bill and he was kind and gracious to me--who he must have regarded as some species of lunatic :)
@@VideoAmericanStyle good 👉 point.
@@billhaywood3503 Interesting. I'm a moderate/centrist and I feel it necessary that both sides have their say but to do so with respect. He always struck me as immensely thoughtful and good natured. I also respect that he stayed his course however unpopular with humour and understatement. Today's pundits both left and right just seem to be so petulant and strident. How boring.
Max boot... Who is no longer a republican😂
William F. Buckley is so brilliant, and so articulate...he is a joy to listen to.
Get a brain.
Spits Facts
Chomsky showed in his debate with this guy that buckley is far from a critical thinker
@@Ken-iu2zp Everyone has bad days turning in poor performances, Chomsky, Buckley Hitchens etc
@@kingsman428 Chomsky is a scholar at MIT. Buckley host a show where people debate.....Case closed
Wow, I've been looking for Buckley's appearance on the Tonight Show for years. Thanks for posting this!
And Carson did prescient inquiries, not like late night network TV talk shows today, where they'd likely ask Mr. Buckley his opinion of Kim Kardashian's cleavage.
Was this his only appearance?
@@timdailey2690 I know he was on the show in 1966 as well, there may have been more. I had read Carson was really fascinated by him.
@@timdailey2690 This particular apperance you are watching aired Feb 12, 1980 during the election year. Buckley appeared many times on Tonight Show in 66, 70, 72, 80, 82, 85.
12 times apparently. I wish we could see some other ones.
I appreciate Mr. Carson providing Bill with a new unsharpened pencil. Mr. Buckley always feels more comfortable when he has his wooden wand.
good one!
observant
He's a former smoker...he and his wife made a bet on something and he lost the bet, so he had to quit....:-)
@@brucetowell3432 He quit cigarettes but continued smoking cigars until he got emphysema and died from it.
@@knowmusicman157 ok, never saw him smoke cigars on his show at all. Think emphysema got Carson as well.
Loved reading Buckley’s personal memoir Miles Gone By..decades long friendships not limited by political beliefs. My late father enjoyed reading his spy novels.
At 0:40, I'm so glad to have finally stumbled upon an exmaple of Buckley speaking Spanish! He probably practised sesquipedalian loquacity in all his languages.
Long live freedom and democratic equality
These two were born slightly a month apart.
They both died due to emphysema from a smoking habit and were quite against smoking at that point.
Unlike "normal" teen girls, I rabidly loved WFB. I was precocious in language. I found him fascinating. My other hero was Ralph Nadar. (And even stranger, I lived in a small town in Idaho.)
Lol ideological opposites.
Simply the best
I’m definitely left of center but I always loved listening to William F Buckley. In college , I braved the hordes of Young Republicans, to hear him. I especially agreed with his views of the Church and the chaos after Vatican Ii
Buckley was also left of center
@@yuntakukai1002 what are you smoking ?? 😂
@Brian Delaney
If you are left-wing, you've got serious problems.
I've studied politics and history longer than you've been alive, and today's left-wing democrats are totalitarian, authoritarian and anti-liberty.
They love weak minded voters like you who are duped and manipulated by bullshit propaganda.
in 83' I went on a tour of NBC studio. I remember how small the entire stage and set was
Interesting. How many people would have been in the audience?
When you say the set was small, I think of it being about 50x20 as the band was there. Is that about right?
Stained Glass is a magnificent read of espionage imbued with Cold War politics and Buckley's style.
Yes, a great and heartbreaking book...that would never get published today.
Thank you so much for the upload. Been looking for them for ages. Still trying to find the others.
Happy to hear it!
What a voice!
In between the stylistic verbiage, Buckley always had his eye on the ball and understood international politics and knew that the Soviets (and the Chinese and any undemocratic society) were on the wrong side of history. I miss him terribly in these times.
eye on the ball with respect to the narrative the elite would like you to believe.
@@gegaoli The subject matter is way too complex for even the off-hand comment I posted. But the quote attributed to Churchill that 'democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others that have been tried' is applicable here. There are many forms of representative democracy, not limited to the winner-take-all or tyranny of the majority kinds.
@@davemiller4721 My point is that it’s a waste of time and energy debating economic and political systems the elite set up to divide and control. Soon they will try to tear down to creat a new world system that will have total control as it’s objective. While you debate minutiae.
@@gegaoli while you may be correct, it's still fun to debate these topics - we're talking about world powers - and I see you're watching the video as well.
@@davemiller4721 I will concede I still enjoy the art of debate and logical arguments…so I remember the old days fondly which is why I decided to watch this video.
Brilliant guy Buckley. Crazy, he sounds even whiter speaking espanol. I bet when he farts it’s a perfect pitch 420Hz.
What he's saying is actually not especially complicated or esoteric. The way he says it makes it sound so.
Ti be, the way he speaks makes things sound not complicated and esoteric, but clear and articulate.
That might be because he was reluctant to 'dumb things down' -- a practice which, in the whole, leaves the conversation more muddled than it began.
Cheers! :)
I paused it at 0:44.. I gotta get mentality prepared for the 2 BIGS to start talking.. thank you Jon Smith!!
Johnny always puts the guest first and set them up to look great! Servant leader vs self aggrandizers we see today
He was a marvelous intellectual.
Finally, someone posted it. Thank You. Jon.
Glad to do it
@Fries Yes
Yes. I've been looking for this episode for a long time.
I love all the coughing in the audience because everyone has already smoked two packs of cigarettes.
Was it WFB's sim who wrote _Thank You For Smoking?_
@@zapazap No, it was his son
@@coolboy5245 sim/sin. T
Dam these fat fingers on tiny buttons
An time capsule of an different time.
Where are the Buckley's, Vidal's, going to come from in the future? These were people of erudition solely for the sake of erudition....NOT money, which is the fascination of the current culture. Others: George Plimpton, Spalding Grey, Peter Ustinov, Norman Mailer...People that were interesting NOT just because they are rich
I can't fail to notice that Johnny never showed the book cover.
The interview was cutoff. How do we know?
Boy, how he would rip the current administration...
"the most inarticulate man who ever gargled" epic lol
He qualifies for the top spot. Speaks in sludge.
@@lucianopavarotti2843 I've always been interested to know how much trolls get paid. Do you get like free Ramen and stuff or just head pats for being a good boy?
@@GunShark0 Squillions and squillions. As for the patting, i think Buckley would have shared your fascination with it and been very excited at supplying you with some.
It took me awhile to figure out that he had the “mid Atlantic accent” …. prep school elite…. but I thought he was a pretty cool guy overall & it was different times.
R.I.P.
February 12th 1980.
"interstices" great word. This level of discourse hasn't been seen on late night TV in many years, and I doubt it ever will again, which is sad.
I love how Buckley grabbed a pencil off Johnny's desk.
It was probably there for him as he often used pencils as a prop on his show.
The book "Who's On First" was published in 1980. Gives an approximate date for this.
William Buckley was Rush Limbaughs idol. And of course, Ronald Reagan as well. Conservative values in the 70s/80s.
I recently saw an episode of Laugh In he had guested - he took questions from the (very liberal) cast and he was actually quite funny. They asked why he agreed to do the show he said that the producer had promised to fly him to LA in a plane with two right wings.
This interview was done in 1980. Good to know for context.
I heard the mention of Carter, plus I know Johnny ditched that background sometime during either the late 70's or early 80's.
The last American with a Middle Atlantic accent
Good one, didn't realize until now.
I worked at and Arby's and he always came in for a roast beef sandwich and a glass of blue nun
No better person to fall asleep to than William F. Buckley.
Oh 100 percent
That's why he came at the end of the show. His droning worked better than any bedtime story.
Buckley was brilliant
love how intelligent and unflappable Buckley was, he is definitely missed. he was a tremendous debater.
Watch his debate with Chomsky. An interesting one for the “intelligent, unflappable, tremendous debater”.
@@jayslater7017 I mean, if your opponent talked in nonsensical terms and went round in circles, you'd get a bit annoyed with them as well.
The problem with this example is that WFB is not very intelligent. What he says is very simplistic and he usually fails horribly in debate. Don't be fooled by the accent and the manner in which he speaks.
We-and I’m honestly referring to all of us despite what we think our political or cultural allegiances are-are so desperate today for genuinely funny, thought-provoking, and sometimes even tiptoeing over the boundaries of good taste late-night talk shows like Carson had where adults actually behaved like adults. I accept online media’s all but rendered much of it obsolete and answers why late-night TV has transmogrified into these partisan niches, but there was once a time when we could all watch the same thing at the same time on a television set and laugh at the same things.
He always gave the impression that he liked to hear himself talk. The acting roles he took when play into that stereotype.
What acting roles? Buckley never acted, so far as I'm aware.
How do you even start to list what this throwback interview on popular television tells us about our culture today?! In a matter of 30 or so years how is it possible that Western nations have fallen so far? 1. It would be unthinkable to even see someone like Buckley on a popular talk show like Kimmel or Fallon simply because his conservative views would not be allowed. Carson was not exactly conservative and, yet, he can sit here and have share his company. Imagine: being able to disagree with someone and still have a conversation without hating them or outright censoring them! 2. It is amazing to hear the public laugh and actually laugh when Buckley makes a joke. The audience may not be as intelligent as he is, but they are certainly intelligent enough to keep up with him. No general audience today would have the intelligence for this. We are all about the quick (and usually tasteless) gratification that delivers immediate but shallow gratification. 3. That there is actual conversation happening -- real 2-way conversation with real depth on real issues -- would be unthinkable today.
It's crazy to watch this and realize that this is our planet only a few years ago.
What’s really sad is that intelligent dialogue is not only lacking on late nite tv but even on 24 hr news! There really is no place to hear this quality of discussion!
I used to watch his show every week. What a shame that our current political climate is so uncivilized. I think Buckley would be very sad if he could see what things have turned into .
True. I disagreed with most of his views but he was a man of principle, integrity, wit, and a feel for the importance of history. A sharp contrast to one-third of the Republican Party today.
He would completely agree with psycho Trump
@@OnePost909 and 100% of the Democrats today.
I'm sure he can and is.
It’d be really nice if you posted the rest of this interview….
Back then, people understood and laughed at Gregorian calendar jokes.
What strikes me most about this interview is the frank discussion regarding (then) President Carter’s political decisions. Can you imagine such a discussion on the late shows that are on nowadays?
We are living in a time where the President’s judgment is beyond reproach within many mainstream media and entertainment outlets, largely due to his political affiliation. We’re left with an overwhelming amount of sycophants and mindless sheep as a result. Who needs objective truth when we have the almighty narrative?
Buckley is unappreciated.
Raised in Mexico
East coast and England 👍
A brilliant mind
You are so right! What was once news and real journalism is now nothing more than the propaganda machine of the left. Pravda....
Trump 2024
I love seeing William F Buckley! I guess he always holds a pen, pencil or something else. I just adore his opinions and hope to find out more about him.
It's interesting how quickly William Buckley grabbed his Linus blanket pencil from Johnny's desk. Years ago, I rarely missed any show that Buckley was on. He was truly a brilliant intellect.
2-12-80
Check out the debate between the internationally known Mr. James Baldwin and Mr. Buckley. Mr. Baldwin received a standing ovation, which was well deserved.
I saw that and Mr. Baldwin was a force of nature...very articulate and intelligent. I do believe he got the better of Mr Buckley.
I LOVED William F. Buckley!
This was very intriguing to watch. However, this could never be shown today.
There is something of the divine about Buckley. Imagine arriving at the Pearly Gates, looking up to the throne, and seeing ... William F. Buckley Jr.
He walked in like Groucho Marx.
Wow! What a flashback!
I used to work for him when I went to Columbia, and had dined with him as well. Unforgettable and I regret the intellectual decline of conservatism which was degraded in the downgrade from Buckley to Limbaugh and the rest...
Two originals. Buckley kept one on their toes. Witty personality
One on *his* toes. Indefinite gender is ascribed as male.
@@justinfleming5119MISOGYNIST!!!
lol jk u rite dawg
right off the top
we will be right back with william 'S' buckley
There was only one WFB. He didn’t just use his head as a Hatrack
Feb 12, 1980
So interesting to hear him speak Spanish, with a strong Mexican accent.
They are all gone but Carter (as of this writing).
The current late-night comedians (Katzenjammer Kids)) would have lost Mr. Buckley about 10-seconds after he started to speak.
Buckley was one of the greatest minds of the modern era. All the old Firing Line shows are on RUclips now and I highly recommend you go back and do some deep-dive binge watching.
I particularly recommend his interviews with David Susskind, George Wallace, John Henry Faulk "Should HUAC Be Abolished?" and his debate with James Baldwin from Cambridge (unrelated to Firing Line - ruclips.net/video/5Tek9h3a5wQ/видео.html)
Not sure I agree with that statement Bill. Compared to Chomsky he is an intellectual midget.
@M W We shall agree to disagree.
Where is the rest of the interview, anybody ? He was a very good writer both funny and serious Sailed around the world with him as captain and taking his sister and son along. If it is any consolation about his intellectual pride, his son commented that if you ad up the time his very beautiful wife didn't talk to him for a couple of years. Funny that Gore Vidal could annoy him that much.
I met Buckley at Columbia in the 90s. He's exactly the same off camera.
As an undergraduate of Columbia College, I got to see Bob Hope filming on campus in the mid 1970's
At JFK airport in NewYork, I got to see Mr. Buckley with my mother. My mother adored him. Surprisingly, there he was, alone and holding luggage and sauntering.. She shouted out at him as Mr. Buckley was stridently heading away to the exit of the terminal. She shouted to him "Mr. Buckley. Keep up the good work!" He turned his head toward us, waved and winked. A gentleman
Joe Flaherty of SCTV circa early 90s did the absolute best impersonation of him. Robin WIlliams did him on SNL. Not bad.
Robin also did a brief impression of him in the Aladdin movie, lol. "There are a few, uh, provisos, a couple of 'quid pro quos'".
ah back in the days when democrats weren't communists.
As a Ronald Reagan acolyte born in 1997, I greatly admire William F. Buckley Jr. A man (or woman) like him should be the most influential conservative in modern America as opposed to the delusional and obnoxious demagoguery of Tucker Carlson. Hopefully he or she will emerge soon enough. It's a necessity at this point for American political and civil discourse.
I'm more to the left but both sides have truly lost their way ..how can you support either side enthusiastically is beyond belief
@@hoggers7572 The left has become absolute (and borderline psychotic) to the degree that I'm not sure they can ever redeem themselves. (Not that everyone on the left is a lunatic.) Conservatives actually have an opportunity to reclaim the rational center. To be the ideology and party of common sense. However, they are currently polluted by a brand of conservatism (hyper-nationalistic populism) that is just as absolute and dangerous as the woke socialism emerging on the left. (My insticts tell me that conservatives will realize just how toxic and dangerous their current brand of conservatism really is and will eventually renounce it. I'd bet my money that they will do so sooner than the left (if they ever contemplate such a possibility of course).)
@@hoggers7572 I could not agree more, well stated.
@@hoggers7572 I am a liberal democrat and I long for politicians that were born after the invention of the wheel.
Tucker Carlson is a product of the times and no more absurd than any of the other political commentators of either side. As brilliant as Buckley was there probably isn't room for him in today's political insanity. He's much too erudite, educated, intellectual and would get steamrolled into oblivion by the loudmouth media, or simply labeled and dismissed as an old white racist.
You would never know watching Carson that he was a dedicated Liberal and a real SOB off the air. That’s why he lasted for 30 years.