Priscilla Langford Buckley (October 17, 1921 – March 25, 2012)[1][2] was an American journalist and author who was the longtime managing editor of National Review.
Education
Buckley graduated with a degree in history in 1943 from Smith College,[3] while there, one of her best friends was Betty Friedan.[4][1] Nancy Reagan was in the same graduating class at Smith as Buckley.[3]
Work for the CIA
She worked for the CIA in the 1950s and for United Press from 1944 to 1948 (in New York) and again from 1953 to 1956 (in Paris).[5][6]
Work for National Review
Priscilla Buckley started working at William F. Buckley's publication, National Review, in 1956.[7] She became managing editor of the publication in 1959 following the retirement of the publication's original managing editor, Suzanne La Follette.[8]Whittaker Chambers recommended Buckley for the position. Buckley served as managing editor until 1985 and continued working at National Review until 1999.[7] She worked at National Review for a total of 43 years.[5] According to The New York Times, Buckley's influence at National Review led some to refer to the publication as "Miss Buckley’s Finishing School for Young Ladies and Gentlemen of Conservative Persuasion".[7] Writers whom she helped to train include Paul Gigot, Bill McGurn, Mona Charen, and Anthony R. Dolan.[9]
Buckley authored String of Pearls, a 2001 memoir about international journalism, and a 2005 book entitled Living It Up with National Review: A Memoir.[11][5]
Buckley died of kidney failure on March 25, 2012, at the age of 90[7] at Great Elm, the house in Sharon, Connecticut, where she lived and where she and her siblings had grown up.[9]
