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Buckley was born in New York City to lawyer and oil baron William Frank Buckley, Sr. , and Aloise Steiner Buckley. The sixth of 10 children, young Buckley moved with his family to Sharon, Connecticut. There, raised by Mexican housekeepers, he spoke his first words in Spanish. He soon moved to Paris where he attended first grade and learned French. By age seven, he had had formal training in English at a day school in London. As a boy, Buckley developed a love for horses, music, swimming, hunting, story-telling, and the importance of his religious faith; all of which would be reflected in his later writings.
In 1943, Buckley attended the University of Mexico. The following year, he joined the U.S. Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant. When World War II ended in 1945, he enrolled in Yale University where he became a member of the secret Skull and Bones society and served as chairman of the Yale Daily NewsThe Yale Daily News "the oldest college daily," has been published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878. The innovation which we begin by this morning's issue is justified by the dullness of the time and the demand.
Buckley graduated from Yale in 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with. That same year, he married Patricia Taylor of Vancouver, British Columbia.
In 1951, Buckley was recruited into the Central Intelligence AgencyThis article is about the foreign intelligence service of the United States of America. For other uses of the term CIA see CIA (disambiguation . The Central Intelligence Agency CIA is the United States' foreign intelligence agency, responsible for obtaini (CIA) where he served for less than one year. Little has been published regarding Buckley's work with the CIA, but in a 2001 letter to author W. Thomas Smith, Jr.Thomas Smith, Jr. born April 30, 1959) is an American author, editor, and journalist. He is a frequent contributor to National Review Online. Education and Military Service In 1982, Smith graduated from the University of South Carolina (USC) with a BA deg, Buckley wrote, "I did training in Washington as a secret agent and was sent to Mexico City. There I served under the direct supervision of Howard HuntEdward Howard Hunt (born October 9, 1918) worked for the White House under President Richard Nixon, figured in the Watergate Scandal, and was convicted of burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping, eventually serving 33 months in prison. Hunt, along with G., about whom of course a great deal is known."
While with the Agency in Mexico, Buckley edited The Road to Yenan, a book addressing the Communist quest for global domination, by Peruvian author Eudocio Ravines .