The twenty-fifth anniversary of just about anything usually has a special significance. At the twenty-fifth reunion of a college class, the members are in their mid-forties, have largely defined themselves, and are at or close to the peak of whatever powers they possess. Looking about them at their twenty-fifth, they get a pretty good idea of what the class has amounted to. A twenty-fifth wedding anniversary has a comparable importance. A marriage that has lasted that long must have at least something valid about it, and so is likely to last the route. Again, the twenty-fifth is definitional.
Now, on its own twenty-fifth, national review has not only defined itself; it has become a national institution, an inevitable point of reference.
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