Buchanan, Patrick Joseph (1938-…), is a columnist, broadcaster, and former presidential adviser known for his conservative political views. He was a Reform Party candidate for United States president for the 2000 election. But he received less than 1 percent of the popular vote. Buchanan had originally begun campaigning as a Republican, but he switched his allegiance to the Reform Party in October 1999. He had campaigned for the Republican nomination in 1992 and 1996 but failed to win the party’s nomination in either year.
In August 2000, at the Reform Party convention in Long Beach, California, the party split into opposing factions because it could not agree on a presidential nominee. The larger faction nominated Buchanan, and the other faction chose physicist John S. Hagelin.
Buchanan was born in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 2, 1938. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 1961. In 1962, he received a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism and joined the staff of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. When he left the paper three years later, he was serving as the assistant editorial editor. In 1966, Buchanan became an executive assistant to former U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon, who was preparing to run for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination. During Nixon’s election campaign, Buchanan served as a press assistant and speechwriter. After Nixon became president in 1969, he named Buchanan a special assistant and speechwriter. In 1973, when Nixon began his second term, Buchanan became a special consultant to the president. After Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974, Buchanan stayed on to serve President Gerald R. Ford. From 1985 to 1987, Buchanan acted as White House communications director for President Ronald Reagan.
For most of the period from 1975 to early 1999, Buchanan wrote a syndicated newspaper column of political and social commentary. Since the late 1970’s, he has also been a commentator on a number of radio and television talk shows. He is best known for his role as co-host on “Crossfire,” a television program of political discussion. In 1993, Buchanan founded The American Cause, an educational foundation dedicated to promoting conservative political principles. He served as its chairman from 1993 until 1999.
Buchanan is the author of several books. His autobiography, Right from the Beginning, was published in 1988. His other books include The Great Betrayal (1998), a criticism of the free-trade policy of the United States; The Death of the West (2002), which claims that decreasing birth rates, increasing immigration, and changing moral values are causing a decline of Western civilization; and Where the Right Went Wrong (2004), which criticizes President George W. Bush for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
