L. Brent Bozell Jr.
Leo Brent Bozell Jr. (/boʊˈzɛl/; January 15, 1926 – April 15, 1997) was an American conservative activist and Catholic writer, and former United States Merchant Mariner.
In the book Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, Buckley described Bozell as "a young, energetic red-haired Yalie from Omaha".
[7] In 1960, he took his family to Spain for the first time, making him absent from the Palm Beach decision of Buckley, Goldwater, Russell Kirk, and William Baroody Sr. to freeze out the John Birch Society from the conservative movement.
Kirk inferred that Bozell would not have had any reason to be opposed to the decision,[8] but, in fact, he, along with Frank Meyer and William Rusher, protested the exclusion of the Society from the conservative movement.
The magazine featured contributions from Russell Kirk (a Catholic convert), Christopher Dawson, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, John Lukacs, Thomas Molnar, Jeffrey Hart, Sir Arnold Lunn, Charles Journet, Rousas John Rushdoony, a Calvinist, and initially received an enthusiastic endorsement by Buckley in the pages of National Review.
However, the relationship between Bozell and his brother-in-law had already begun to sour; in March 1966, when Buckley wrote a column warning that Catholics should not try to seek legislation that would impose on others their belief that abortion is murder, Bozell wrote a letter to the editors of National Review protesting that the column "reeks of relativism...Mr. Buckley writes in this instance as though he had never heard of the natural law."
Bozell himself felt estranged from the United States in general and in particular the conservative movement in which he was once a rising star, denouncing conservatism as "an inadequate substitute for Christian politics.
"[12] Especially following the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, Bozell began to see the United States as a force of evil greater in magnitude to the Soviet Union and denounced both democratic capitalism and communism.
It was very much a product of the tumultuous sixties, which exhilarated Buckley and which lifted him to new heights of celebrity, but in which more troubled, less stable souls like Bozell capsized."
When Atkinson said the Virgin Mary was more "used" than if she had participated in a sexual conception, Patricia attempted to slap her and her hand hit the microphone and she was escorted out.
The rally afterwards included a Pro Life student group from the University of Dallas, Los Hijos de la Tormenta ("The Sons of Thunder"), who were dressed in khaki and red berets (red berets being worn by the Carlist Basques, whom Bozell admired),[18] wore rosaries, and carried papal flags.
[18] By means of the jammed door, Bozell and the rest of the group entered the building and began shattering windows while shouting "Viva Cristo Rey!"
"[19] Buckley denounced Bozell's actions, declaring in National Review that "the Sons of Thunder have moved precious few of the unconvinced over to their side."
The cover of Triumph's March 1973 issue after the Roe v. Wade decision was solid black except for a small logo, a white cross, and the words "For the children".
[20] Bozell died of pneumonia in a nursing home in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 15, 1997, at the age of 71 [21] after years of numerous and crippling health problems.
His son, L. Brent Bozell III, spoke of those struggles when eulogizing him: Dozens of times over...25 years the attacks would come, and with each bout, yet another blow, yet another public humiliation.
