James Buckley, who had served in the United States Senate from New York and more recently as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, passed away on Friday at the age of 100.
Buckley is one of the few people to have served in the administrative, legislative, and judicial departments of the Federal government, as Fox News reported. He is the older brother of William F. Buckley Jr., who founded National Review.
According to his son, David Buckley, who lives in Arlington, Virginia, the former judge passed away at a hospital in Washington, District of Columbia.
Early Life
Buckley came into the world on March 9, 1923. After graduating from the Millbrook School in New York, he continued his education at Yale University, where he focused his studies on English.
During World War II, he was a member of the Navy and saw action in the Pacific Theater. After that, he attended Yale Law School and eventually became a lawyer for corporations.
Jim Buckley married Ann Frances Coole in 1953. She passed away in 2011. In 1965, he began his long political career by serving as the campaign manager for his brother's bid for the office of mayor.
After that, in 1970, he was elected to the Senate representing New York in the capacity of a senator for the Conservative Party.
Career Highlights
Buckley is well known for challenging campaign financing regulations in the aftermath of a post-Watergate world in the seminal Supreme Court case known as Buckley v. Valeo. This case is considered to be a landmark decision.
In March of 1974, Buckley stunned Republicans by asking for President Richard Nixon to resign in order to lift the nation "out of the Watergate swamp" and save the office of the presidency.
He also called for Nixon to resign in order to save the office in which he served.
In 1976, the same year that Buckley made the transition from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, he ran for reelection to his seat in the Senate but was defeated by the Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Later on, he worked in the administration of Ronald Reagan as an undersecretary for security assistance in the United States Department of State. Following that, Reagan nominated him to a post on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
