Conservative political icon William F. Buckley has died at the age of 82. Buckley for several decades led a conservative political revolution. Many of the successful political mediums today can be attributed in part to Buckley.

Michelle Malkin had this to say about Buckley’s influence:

I picked up my first issue of NR in college through the conservative student journalism samizdata. Reading the magazine in public was an act of defiance. Embracing the ideas within was an act of heresy.

Mr. Buckley’s Firing Line appearances vaulted him into the mainstream cultural stratosphere, but the enduring power of his written words made him an intellectual supernova. He built the Right’s communications infrastructure and laid the groundwork for the New Media.

Bill Buckley passed away in Stamford, Connecticut and is predeceased by his wife Patricia in 2007.  He is survived by his adult son, Christopher Buckley.