Conservative Author, Commentator dies

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr. died overnight in the study of his Stamford, Connecticut, home, the magazine announced on its Web site Wednesday.


The conservative commentator was 82.

"He died while at work," said Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of the National Review Online, in a written statement. "If he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas."

His assistant Linda Bridges says he had been ill with emphysema and was found dead by his cook, the Associated Press reported.

Buckley founded the National Review in 1955 became famous for his intellectual political writings in the magazine.

The magazine claims to be the most widely-circulated journal of conservative opinion.

Buckley's writings are widely credited for supporting the growth of the U.S. conservative movement in the latter half of the 20th century.

He gained a following with "Firing Line," his Emmy-winning syndicated public television show.

Former President Reagan, a longtime reader of the National Review, paid tribute to Buckley's contribution to the conservative movement during an event celebrating the magazine's 30th anniversary in 1985.

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"If any of you doubt the impact of National Review's verve and attractiveness, take a look around you this evening. The man standing before you now was a Democrat when he picked up his first issue in a plain brown wrapper; and even now, as an occupant of public housing, he awaits as anxiously as ever his biweekly edition -- without the wrapper."

After the announcement of Buckley's death, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, the No. 1 Republican in the House, called Buckley "the architect of the modern conservative movement."

"America has lost a giant," Boehner said in a written statement.

He lauded Buckley for taking a stance against socialism in his first issue of the National Review.

"As long as America honors the ideals of our founding fathers -- free speech, freedom of religion and limited, constitutional government -- his legacy will be cherished," he said.