The Long Shot v. the Jump Shot

On June 6, Californians voted on Proposition 13, while New Jersey’s Republicans chose between four-term veteran Clifford Case and an obscure conservative writer and activist, for the honor of running for the Senate. By June 7, Proposition 13 was in the headlines, and Jeffrey Bell was no longer obscure. The surprise double result, Bell hopes and believes, was no coincidence.

Bell was born in 1943 in Washington, D.C. He went to college at Columbia University, where he announced sports events (including basketball games with Princeton). In 1963 and 1965 he worked for national review; from 1967 to 1968, he was an American advisor in the Mekong Delta. When his Army stint was up, he became a staff researcher for the Nixon campaign. Pat Buchanan offered him a speechwriting job in the new Administration, but Bell went to the American Conservative Union instead. In 1973, he taught a Harvard seminar on “Conservatism in the 1970s.” In 1974, he joined the personal staff of Ronald Reagan. In 1976, he returned to New Jersey—one of the several states in which he had grown up—with the intention of replacing Clifford Case.

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

Featured Tags

On June 6, Californians voted on Proposition 13, while New Jersey’s Republicans chose between four-term veteran Clifford Case and an obscure conservative writer and activist, for the honor of running for the Senate. By June 7, Proposition 13 was in the headlines, and Jeffrey Bell was no longer obscure. The surprise double result, Bell hopes and believes, was no coincidence.

Bell was born in 1943 in Washington, D.C. He went to college at Columbia University, where he announced sports events (including basketball games with Princeton). In 1963 and 1965 he worked for national review; from 1967 to 1968, he was an American advisor in the Mekong Delta. When his Army stint was up, he became a staff researcher for the Nixon campaign. Pat Buchanan offered him a speechwriting job in the new Administration, but Bell went to the American Conservative Union instead. In 1973, he taught a Harvard seminar on “Conservatism in the 1970s.” In 1974, he joined the personal staff of Ronald Reagan. In 1976, he returned to New Jersey—one of the several states in which he had grown up—with the intention of replacing Clifford Case.