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William F. Buckley Jr., 82, was found dead at his Stamford, Connecticut home by his cook. The official cause of death is unknown, but Buckley had been battling emphysema in recent years.

Buckley was known as one of the first conservative voices to graze the television screen and media in general. He founded the National Review, a right-wing magazine, in 1955 and remained its editor until 1990. Buckley also hosted a television show, The Firing Line" from 1976 until 1999.

"For people of my generation, Bill Buckley was pretty much the first intelligent, witty, well-educated conservative one saw on television," fellow conservative William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, said at the time the show ended. "He legitimized conservatism as an intellectual movement and therefore as a political movement."

Even those who opposed his staunch conservative views on just about everything found him to be a charming individual.

"I was very fond of him," said Joan Didion, noted author and journalist.. "Everyone was, even if they didn't agree with him."