Honoring Patrick J. Buchanan | The American Spectator

Recently, I had the honor of signing a coalition letter recommending President Donald Trump award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Patrick J. Buchanan. The call to honor Mr. Buchanan with this high honor is not new but accelerated when Representative Riley M. Moore (R-WV) sent a letter to President Trump urging him to honor Buchanan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This effort is also being supported by Dr. Kevin Roberts, President of The Heritage Foundation.

In The American Conservative, a journal co-founded by Buchanan, Rep. Riley and Dr. Kevin Roberts,  argue that Buchanan is “one of the most prophetic voices of conservatism.” Buchanan is the great defender of our republic and heritage.

Buchanan, who is now retired, served as a presidential adviser and speechwriter to Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan. He also was a journalist writing a twice-weekly column and the co-founder of several news programs, which included Crossfire, The McLaughlin Group, among others.

Riley and Roberts are correct in stating that this record alone qualifies Buchanan to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor. “But what sets Buchanan apart, what makes him uniquely deserving of this recognition, is that he is one of the great pioneers of what we now call America First conservatism. He foresaw, long before others, nearly every political crisis and cultural challenge that animates the country today,” wrote Riley and Roberts.

It was Buchanan’s traditional conservatism that paved the way for President Trump’s America First movement. Buchanan was a voice of one calling in the wilderness, warning the nation about unrestricted immigration, free-trade agreements that were decimating the middle class and outsourcing our manufacturing base, and the consequences of the neoconservative internationalism that resulted in endless wars. Buchanan also defended traditional values such as marriage and the life of the unborn, and he fought against the progressive attacks upon American history.

Just as many conservatives are influenced by William F. Buckley, Jr., President Ronald Reagan, or even Senator Barry M. Goldwater, my conservatism was influenced by the ideas and writings of Buchanan. It was in high school that I enlisted in the “Buchanan Brigades.”

My introduction to public policy started with an internship at The Heritage Foundation. My time at Heritage was filled with valuable experience not only learning about public policy, but more importantly learning about the foundations of what makes good policy. I also had the opportunity to listen and learn from individuals who were influenced by and worked alongside Goldwater and Reagan.

During the 1990s, even though I could not participate in presidential caucuses, I was a supporter of Buchanan’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and in 1996. Growing up, we did not have cable television, but I became a regular viewer of The McLaughlin Group. Once in college, and finally able to  have cable television, I was able to watch Buchanan on many of the debate programs.

Most of all, I looked forward to his columns and his many books that he wrote. It was also through Buchanan that I was introduced to conservative intellectuals such as Russell Kirk and publications such as Human Events and Chronicles.

What I admired most about Buchanan was his respect for and defense of American history. In addition, he always referenced history in his columns and books to support his arguments. Buchanan has a commanding knowledge of American history and Western Civilization.

It was not always popular being a supporter of Buchanan. Buchanan, and other paleoconservatives, had been sent to the “wilderness” when the conservative movement was dominated by neoconservatives and “fusionist” conservatives. Many conservatives in the movement shared President George W. Bush’s assessment of America First conservatism to be based in the “evils” of isolationism, protectionism, and nativism.

As an example, during my internship at Heritage expressing admiration for Buchanan was frowned upon, while neoconservatives and “Reagan” conservatives were held in higher regard. It was far more popular to be reading and referencing the late Charles Krauthammer than Buchanan. This is why reading Dr. Roberts recommending and arguing that Buchanan should receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom is both surprising but also demonstrates how the movement is changing.

The traditional or “Old Right” conservatism of Buchanan not only influenced me from an intellectual standpoint, but also from my personal life. Growing up my family experienced the impact of deindustrialization as a result of free trade agreements. As foreign steel flooded the American market, my father was impacted by layoffs. I also saw small communities that suffered the consequences as they were decimated. Many of these communities had festivals and patriotic parades that my grandparents would take my brother and I, and today many are just a shell of their former selves.

During his 1992 address to the Republican National Convention, Buchanan described his fellow Americans as “conservatives from the heart.” “They don’t read Adam Smith or Edmund Burke, but they come from the same schoolyards and the same playgrounds and towns as we come from. They share our beliefs and convictions, our hopes and our dreams,” stated Buchanan.

Buchanan described my family, although at the time they would not agree. My family was blue collar, and my father was a strong and proud Teamster. My family supported the Democrat Party because they believed that the Democrats represented the “working class.”

Nevertheless, listening to my father or my grandparents they reflected the philosophy of Buchanan. Whether it was traditional values, opposition to outsourcing of industry, supporting limits to immigration, a non-interventionist foreign policy, and a patriotic view of America and our history, were all shared by my family. Today, as a result of President Trump, my family has jettisoned the Democrat Party and are voting Republican.

Patrick J. Buchanan was not only prophetic about the many domestic and foreign policy challenges we are confronted with today, but his conservative philosophy will build the foundation to restore the United States. It is my hope that President Trump will honor Buchanan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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