William F BuckleyBuckley vs. Vidal: The Historic 1968 ABC News Debates

This small volume helpfully presents the text of the televised commentary sessions featuring William F Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal during the 1968 US political conventions as re-presented in a fine 2015 documentary “Best of Enemies.”The book provides a helpful, if brief, introduction, insightful editorial comments here and there in the chapters as well as an afterward and mention of helpful references. There is a chapter for each of the 11 segments that aired during the Republican and Democratic Party Conventions that resulted in the nominations of Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey respectively for the presidential election that fall. As specified in the introduction, these months were quite chaotic due to recent assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, racial riots, protests against the USA involvement in the Vietnamese War and related turmoil which had a bearing on the conventions and these debates.References mentioned include the “Esquire” magazine articles written by Buckley and Vidal after their heated appearances (also compiled in the out of print “Smiling through the Apocalypse: Esquire's History of the Sixties”). Too bad these pieces are not included. The views articulated by the respective authors flesh out the enmity and vehemence of these encounters to additional degrees.While what is cited is useful, more background and depth on Buckley and Gore provide further understanding of their quarrel. There are the obvious differences between Buckley as a conservative Republican/libertarian and Vidal as a liberal Democrat/independent, but there appears to be more complexity and depth to their friction. Biographies of the two protagonists are telling in providing additional background; a Vidal biography (Parini’s “Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal”) offers a more complete picture, whereas the Buckley bio’s (e.g. Bogus’s “Buckley: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism” and Judis’s “William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives”) provide significant coverage, though as of this writing, these and other works (e.g. Christopher Buckley’s “But Enough About You”) have to be pieced together to offer a more complete view.However, what could also be useful in comprehending the Buckley - Vidal feud would be comparisons with other highly visible disputes that have occurred in previous eras and since. Examples to include could be those such as the conflict between Gabriel Harvey and Thomas Nashe, Thomas Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce, John Dewey and Robert M. Hutchins, C.P. Snow and F.R. Leavis, and more recently Glenn Beck and John Stewart as well as Bill O’Reilly and Steven Colbert.While such a comprehensive look at this dispute would be interesting to see, we can be most appreciative at having the helpful account and fine documentary record.

The debate is fascinating but the typeface is a little hard to read, small font and not dark enough.

An interesting look at two great intellectuals debating in a time when there was the time to do so - as opposed to current TV programming. Somewhat outdated however if your not interested in the fascinating US political history of the 60s.

I enjoyed reading two intellectuals discuss the issues of 1968. Poor Buckley seems to have not prepared very well or was perfectly comfortable lying.

See title

I remember the actual broadcast. Wish I had a copy of that! This fills in the muttered asides that I could not understand then.

Great book. Too bad Gore Vidal isnt still with us, He'd make mincemeat out of Trump.

A DISSAPPEARING ART FORM THESE TWO ARE PART OF AN ERA WHICH CANNOT BE REPLACED UNFORTUNATELY. COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN

This was a debate between two giants of political commentary. It started off very well in Miami when Nixon beat Reagean, and then descended into name-calling in Chicago in the middle of the street fighting and hippie culture.It is so refreshing to see, or rather read, two brilliant minds from opposite parts of the political spectrum debating together. I this age of sound-bites it is particularly rewarding