I have been writing for this journal for 63 years and, believe it if you can, there are already those who are saying that enough is enough.
I am now one of those people. I’ve had my say, and there is other work that needs doing. If the Republic should find herself in exigent circumstance, of course, or if, more likely, one of the few remaining Mohicans who built this magazine and its movement should pass without proper notice, I may be moved to barge back into the conversation. But my intention, Mr. Chairman, is to yield back the balance of my space.
In doing so, I wish to thank my editors — Bill Buckley for the first 25 years, John O’Sullivan for another nine, Rich Lowry for the past 29 years. When an editor offers to share his painstakingly curated readership with a writer, he is extending a rare privilege. I have never forgotten that generosity.
I am grateful, as well, to the readers who have over these many years expressed thanks for an illuminating insight or, more practically, for an actionable suggestion in either the open markets of politics or the dark corners of finance.
I have even come to appreciate those who confronted my columns with different facts and contrary analysis. My friend Buckley, a man of impeccably good manners, taught me that, in the pursuit of truth, it is neither wise nor noble to avoid contention. Not even with the rich and powerful. Not even across one’s own convivial dining table. An idea challenged can become an understanding improved. It often did.
Thanks to all of you for stopping by. The pleasure has been mine.
NBF
May 20, 2026