Pat Buchanan
| Pat Buchanan | |
 Patrick J. Buchanan in 2008 | |
White House Communications Director
| |
| In office 6 February 1985 – 1 March 1987 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Michael A. McManus Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Jack Koehler |
| Born | 2 November 1938 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (before 1999, 2004–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
Reform (1999–2002) Independent (2002–2004) |
| Spouse(s) | ∞ 1971 Shelley Ann Scarney |
| Website | Official website |
Patrick "Pat" Joseph Buchanan (b. 2 November 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to three American presidents; ran twice for the Republican presidential nomination, in 1992 and 1996; and was the Reform Party candidate in 2000. Buchanan identifies as a traditionalist Catholic who attends Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, and strongly defended Summorum Pontificum (apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued in July 2007).
Contents
Life
Buchanan was born in Washington, D.C., a son of William Baldwin Buchanan (1905–1988) and his wife Catherine Elizabeth (Crum) Buchanan (1911–1995). He was a student of the Catholic college—Georgetown University. Buchanan earned his bachelor's degree in English from Georgetown. He received a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1962.
Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996. He ran on the Reform Party ticket in the 2000 presidential election. In 2002, he co-founded The American Conservative magazine and launched a foundation named The American Cause.
He had various roles in mainstream media, such as political debate programs, until allegations of less politically correct statements, such as regarding the Holocaust, Jewish influence, mass immigration, and the Israel Lobby.
In the book Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War, Buchanan argues that it was Britain's guarantee to Poland that caused the Second World War. A world war that later led to Poland and the whole of Eastern Europe being occupied by the Soviet Union.
The Death of the West (book review by Filip Stojak)
- Though now more than a decade old, it re-emerges with great relevancy in the wake of the Syrian refugee crisis and rising tensions in the Middle-East. The title is to be understood literally: declining birth rates and mass immigration in the US and Europe threaten to overwhelm native populations and extinguish their cultural identity. Different to earlier waves of immigration, the author argues, these people often don't share our Western values and their allegiances lie with countries we could be at war with. And as societies in Europe grow older, the European welfare-state can only be sustained through mass immigration, for many Europeans not only stopped reproducing, but revel in their demise, by celebrating being childless and having double income. Buchanan identifies Socialism as the root cause of the Western decline. As he astutely observes how, come 1989, world-wide Communism has failed and why, he further branches out into the tenets of its successor and how it managed to prevail where the progenitor didn't ' by changing the culture from within. He goes into great detail how Globalism, Secularism, Feminism, and Gay Rights Activism often hide behind reason and just cause, but show ill-intent towards their dissenters; dehumanising them by calling them bigots, sexists, racists, or homophobes and thus avoiding the debate. What follows is a well-argued, harsh critique of the Mexican government's economic reliance on illegal immigration and a bold defence of the nation-state concept as a necessity in preserving the cultural identity of the United States. In his refusal of amnesty for illegal immigrants for example, he relentlessly makes the case for deportation, by arguing that if rule of law is ignored and pardon given, the weight of immigration laws ' however strict they may be ' is nullified.
- The division and sense of separatism the author sees infecting the United States is evident throughout the political discourse. There is a deep understanding and acknowledgment in Buchanan's writing for the violent history of the West, but as he keenly retorts, this is true for all nations, revealing the gut-wrenching truth, that the West didn't start slavery, it was the West that ended it. And while he is a big proponent of the Civil Rights Act, he sees no obligation for the US to make any further payments to minority interest groups, because he sees them as the great dividers, who out of self-interest will never be satisfied with any form of reparation. And when the state keeps on giving, why should they be? He then goes on to dismantle the cultural Marxist myth of equality, by arguing that there are no equals, only equal opportunity. But then taints the relevant Thomas Jefferson quote, which would have perfectly stood on its own, by needlessly pointing out the Founding Father's rejection of homosexuality. With grand vigour he argues for the socially conservative case; even going so far as putting blame on conservatives who surrendered the culture war and retreated solely to economics (read: Neocons), only for the libertarian element of the right to grow stronger. Whatever you may think about the man, it takes guts to slaughter the holy cow of free market capitalism as a right-winger.
- As is to be expected by Buchanan, Christianity repeatedly sneaks its way into his argumentation and it is here where the book is at its weakest. While it may be true that a traditionalist, faith-based society produces higher birth rates, a return to faith cannot be a goal unto itself, but must come from conviction. Pure pragmatism does not suffice, when it comes to people's acceptance of a divine creator. However, I also understand that it is not in the author's purview to make the case for Christ. As a stout unbeliever and Cultural Catholic, I therefore have to reject his battle-cry for a return to Christian predominance in Western society. From my European Classical Liberal perspective though, I at least have to commend the author for being open about some of his statist views, which befits someone who accepts God as an ultimate authority; something I always found to be contradictive to the libertarian-leaning wing of the right ' and a pitfall Buchanan wisely avoids. With 'The Death of the West', Patrick J. Buchanan delivers an excellent read, that may make your blood boil, but is so well-researched and written with such finesse and historical prowess, that you will be hard-pressed not to find something to agree with. While I do disagree with many of his assertions, I also found a lot of respectable opinions, the least of which made me understand his brand of conservatism better. And lest those of us, whose parents fled communist regimes to find a better life in the West, forget, why they did so in the first place, this book makes a strong case for why we ought to preserve the West from those who seek to destroy it.
Family
Buchanan was the son of William Baldwin Buchanan (1905–1988), a partner in an accounting firm, and his wife Catherine Elizabeth, née Crum (1911–1995), a nurse and a homemaker. Buchanan had six brothers (Brian, Henry, James, John, Thomas, and William Jr.) and two sisters (Kathleen Theresa and Angela Marie, nicknamed Bay). Bay served as U.S. Treasurer under Ronald Reagan. His father was of Irish, English, and Scottish ancestry, and his mother was of German descent.
He had a great-grandfather who fought in the American Civil War in the Confederate States Army, which is why he is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He admires Robert E. Lee, Douglas MacArthur and Joseph McCarthy.
Marriage
Buchanan married White House staffer Shelley Ann Scarney in 1971.
Works (selection)
- The New Majority: President Nixon at Mid-Passage, 1973
- Conservative Votes, Liberal Victories: Why the Right Has Failed, Quadrangle/New York Times Book Company, 1975
- Right from the Beginning, Boston 1988
- The Great Betrayal: How American Sovereignty and Social Justice Are Being Sacrificed to the Gods of the Global Economy (1998)
- A Republic, Not an Empire: Reclaiming America's Destiny (1999)
- The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization (2002)
- Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency (2004)
- State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America’’ (2006)
- Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World (2008)
- Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? (2011)
