As we all know, Bill was one of the most consequential figures of he age, let alone in our lives as conservatives. He defined us, to wit: when I went for my first White House personnel office interview to be vetted as an Assistant Secretary of State candidate, the young intern doing the initial paperwork noted that I was not a registered Republican in many public records and dutifully asked, “you are a Republican aren’t you?” I said, “well, I’m a conservative.” His pen hesitated over the yes box, then the no box, then the other box. I said, “look, I’m a Buckley man, a Buckley conservative – was on the masthead at National Review for a decade.” He nodded with some recognition, but the party affiliation box was left unchecked. I felt as though I said everything about my political philosophy and reliability that would ever need to be said. It worked out.