Join biographer Sam Tanenhaus for a lecture on Buckley, his sweeping new portrait of William F. Buckley, Jr., the writer, commentator, and provocateur who helped launch the modern conservative movement. Drawing from exclusive interviews and never-before-seen papers, Tanenhaus traces Buckley’s influence from the Cold War to the culture wars, revealing both his public legacy and the private contradictions behind the persona.

About the speaker:

Sam Tanenhaus, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review, is the author of the national bestsellers Whittaker Chambers: A Biography (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize) and The Death of Conservatism. His feature articles and essays have appeared in the Atlantic, New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, New York Review of Books,Vanity Fair, and many other publications in the United States and abroad. His new book, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, was published to wide acclaim in 2025.

Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (the speakers will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.

Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.