William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008) was a public intellectual, conservative author, and political commentator. He founded National Review magazine, which had a major impact on the modern conservative movement in the United States, and wrote the popular newspaper column On the Right. Buckley also hosted almost 1,500 episodes of Firing Line and wrote more than 50 books on a variety of topics, including both nonfiction and a series of espionage thrillers.