In 1909, young William F. Buckley Sr. (1881-1958), who grew up in the dusty South Texas town of San Diego, graduated from the University of Texas law school and headed for Mexico City. Fluent in Spanish, familiar with Mexican traditions, and soon fit to practice law south of the border, Buckley was headed up the aisle to vast wealth and cultural power. On the way, he took a front-row seat at the Mexican Revolution and played a key role in steering the nascent oil industry through tumultuous and dangerous times. This book for the first time tells the story of the man behind the family that would become nothing short of a conservative institution, reaching its apogee in the career of William F. Buckley Jr., arguably the most prominent conservative commentator of the twentieth century. Buckley witnessed the overthrow and exit of President Porfirio DIaz, the rise of Madero, and the coup of General Victoriano Huerta, all while building the Pantepec Oil Company, the most profitable small petroleum producer in Mexico. He faced down Pancho Villa, survived encounters with hired assassins, evaded snipers in the streets of Veracruz, gambled and won in many a business venture-and ultimately was expelled from the country. As the narrative follows Buckley from his small-town Texas beginnings to the founding of a family dynasty, the streak of independence and distrust of government that would become the Buckley hallmark can be seen in the making. An eventful chapter in the life and career of a singular character, this dramatic account of a man and his moment is a document of political and historical significance-but it is also a remarkable story, told with irresistible brio.

The book will propose a single reform (the elimination of all federal grants to state and local governments) that, if adopted, will have a profound across-the-board impact on how we govern ourselves and reduce federal spending by over $600 billion a year. The proliferation of federal grants-in-aid programs is of recent vintage - around 100 of them pre-Lyndon Johnson and now over 1,100 of them. Eliminating those to the states will result in enormous savings in federal and state administrative costs, free the states to set their own priorities; and by eliminating the federal regulations that attend the grants, achieve improvements in the design and implementation of the programs now subsidized by Washington. In short, it will free the states and their subdivisions to resume full responsibility for all activities that fall within their competence, such as education, welfare, the construction and maintenance of highways, etc. And because members of Congress currently spend major portions of their time in the creation of the grants and in allocating the money assigned to them (think earmarks), their elimination will enable Congress to devote its full time to responsibilities that are uniquely national in character.

In 1909, young William F. Buckley Sr. (1881-1958), who grew up in the dusty South Texas town of San Diego, graduated from the University of Texas law school and headed for Mexico City. Fluent in Spanish, familiar with Mexican traditions, and soon fit to practice law south of the border, Buckley was headed up the aisle to vast wealth and cultural power. On the way, he took a front-row seat at the Mexican Revolution and played a key role in steering the nascent oil industry through tumultuous and dangerous times. This book for the first time tells the story of the man behind the family that would become nothing short of a conservative institution, reaching its apogee in the career of William F. Buckley Jr., arguably the most prominent conservative commentator of the twentieth century. Buckley witnessed the overthrow and exit of President Porfirio DIaz, the rise of Madero, and the coup of General Victoriano Huerta, all while building the Pantepec Oil Company, the most profitable small petroleum producer in Mexico. He faced down Pancho Villa, survived encounters with hired assassins, evaded snipers in the streets of Veracruz, gambled and won in many a business venture-and ultimately was expelled from the country. As the narrative follows Buckley from his small-town Texas beginnings to the founding of a family dynasty, the streak of independence and distrust of government that would become the Buckley hallmark can be seen in the making. An eventful chapter in the life and career of a singular character, this dramatic account of a man and his moment is a document of political and historical significance-but it is also a remarkable story, told with irresistible brio.