William Rusher

He was the practical man of the postwar conservative revival. Publisher of the National Review for 31 years, he helped form the committee that secured Barry Goldwater's 1964 Republican nomination. In the mid-'70s, Rusher swept working-class Democrats into the conservative camp; they became the Reagan Democrats of the 1980s. His suits, ties and haircuts were sleek and trim, and his manner could be steely. But no one was more generous. I salute Rusher, who died April 16 at 87, with a line from his favorite poet, George Santayana: "I walk contented to the peopled grave."

Brookhiser is a senior editor at the National Review