Buckley was born January 22, 1815, in Surry County, North Carolina, but had moved to Georgia by 1828 where he began working as a store clerk.
James Pinckney Henderson appointed him a District Judge in 1847, but Buckley resigned in 1854 in order to resume private practice.
He represented Austin and Fort Bend counties in the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Legislatures.
On November 4, 1861, at the beginning of the Regular Session of the Ninth Legislature, Buckley was elected Speaker and served until he apparently resigned on December 7, 1861.
[1] After Buckley's successor, Nicholas Henry Darnell resigned sometime in 1862,[2] Buckley was elected to the vacant office of Speaker for the First Called Session that convened on February 2, 1863, defeating Reps. Robert Turner Flewellen and John Smith, 54 votes to 5 and 1, respectively.