James Lane Buckley (born March 9, 1923 in New York City) was a United States Senator from the Conservative Party of New York State from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1977. Formerly, he was vice president and director of the Catawba Corporation from 1953 to 1970, and afterwards president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 1982 until 1985.

He was also the lead plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case, Buckley v. Valeo, in which he successfully challenged the constitutionality of a law limiting campaign spending in Congressional races.

A 1943 graduate of Yale University, Buckley enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942 and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant in 1946. After receiving his law degree from Yale Law School, he was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1950 and practiced law until 1953, when he joined Catawba as vice president and director. In 1970 he was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Conservative, winning 38.7% of the vote in a three-way race, and served from 1971 until 1977. Buckley ran for re-election in 1976 as a Republican and was defeated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In 1980, he ran again as a Republican in Connecticut against Chris Dodd and lost.

Appointed a federal judge in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan, he left his post at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to serve on the District of Columbia Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals until 1996. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Facts

• Buckley is the older brother of famed conservative writer William F. Buckley, Jr.

Bibliography

• Buckley, James Lane (1975). If Men Were Angels: A View From the Senate. New York: Putnam. ISBN 0399115897.