James Buckley died at 100 years on August 18, 2023. He was an extraordinary individual and principled conservative statesman who managed the improbable feat of being a Senator, federal judge, and member of the executive branch during the Reagan Administration. William F. Buckley Jr. called Jim the “Man I Trust” and once said that he was “out of this world” and the “only person I have ever known who has no enemies” because he had “always persuaded everyone with whom he has contact that his fairness is, in a sense, a tribute even to those who are the immediate victims of that fairness.” Upon calling for President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974, the New York Times referred to Jim Buckley as a man “great gentleness, unfailingly courteous and considerate” who was known as a “non-politician” to friends and foes alike. In his last public appearance, Jim delivered a lecture at the 2019 Ideas Summit. He was later honored with the William F. Buckley Jr. Prize for Leadership in Political Thought.

2019 Ideas Summit speech: “Defend the American Experiment by Protecting the Constitution” Watch here. Read here.

The 2020 William F. Buckley Jr. Prize for Leadership in Political Thought was presented to Jim. Read his acceptance remarks here.

Watch the video that we presented at the 2020 Buckley Prize Dinner:

Marking his 100th birthday, NRI inaugurated the biennial James L. Buckley Lecture on Principled Leadership at the 2023 Ideas Summit to honor his prestigious and impactful career serving in all three branches of government, while championing Constitutional limits. At each Summit, we will invite a notable person who has served, past or present, in one of the branches of government to deliver the lecture on an important topic of the day, grounded in the concept of principled leadership, which Jim demonstrated throughout his notable career. The inaugural lecture was delivered by The Honorable Michael B. Mukasey.

Watch the lecture here.

Many tributes are coming in from around the country. Read them on the Corner on NationalReview.com.