William F. Buckley Jr.: The Conscience of a Catholic Conservative

In this public lecture, Sam Tanenhaus will explore the ways that Catholicism and Catholic interlocutors shaped and reshaped the thought of William F. Buckley Jr. on a variety of issues ranging from Church teachings to debates on communism, civil and human rights, family values, and free markets.

Ten years before his death in 2008, Buckley chose Tanenhaus to tell the full uncensored story of his life and times, granting him extensive interviews and exclusive access to his most private papers. Thus began a deep investigation into the vast and often hidden universe of Buckley. In June 2025, Random House published Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, the long-awaited biography of the charismatic founder of modern conservatism and the movement he led to the pinnacles of political and cultural power.

Catholicism constitutes a key aspect of the story, from Buckley’s upbringing to the Kennedy presidency, the encyclicals of John XXIII, and even the commencement speech Buckley delivered at the University of Notre Dame in May 1978.

A book signing and light reception will follow the lecture. Free and open to all, this event is presented by the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism and cosponsored by the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative, the Program on Church, State & Society, and the Rooney Democracy Institute.

Join us on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET.

Speaker:
Sam Tanenhaus, best-selling and prize-winning author of books on American politics and media, is the former editor-in-chief of The New York Times Book Review. His book Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, published in 1997, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His feature articles and essays have appeared in the Atlantic, New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Time, Vanity Fair, Prospect, and more than two dozen other publications in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently a contributing writer for the Washington Post and Distinguished Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. In November, Buckley was included on The New York Times “100 Notable Books of 2025” list.

For more information and to view the live stream visit the event website.