Bill Kauffman

Bill Kauffman (born November 15, 1959) is an American political writer generally aligned with the paleoconservative movement. He was born in Batavia, New York, and currently resides in Elba, New York, with his wife and daughter.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester, he went to work as an aide to New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (which he would later describe as an "anarchist-making experience") in 1981. After leaving Moynihan's employ, Kauffman worked as Washington, D.C., editor for "Reason" before quitting over his disagreement with the magazine's Objectivist editorial slant, after which he and his family returned to Batavia. He is now a contributing editor to "Chronicles" and "Liberty", and he has also written frequently for "The American Conservative", "The American Enterprise", "The Wall Street Journal", and "CounterPunch".

Although he is known as a paleoconservative, his politics remain difficult to categorize, as he holds strong libertarian leanings with culturally conservative and isolationist inclinations. He is a critic of development, frequently writes approvingly of distributism and agrarianism, and is extremely anti-corporation. Kauffman himself has described his politics as "a blend of Catholic Worker, Old Right libertarian, Yorker transcendentalist, and delirious localist." He has also described himself as a "Jeffersonian," an "anarchist," a "cheerful enemy of the state," a "reactionary Friend of the Library," and a "peace-loving football fan." Although he remains a registered Democrat, he rarely supports their candidates or their platform and has frequently voted Green since the collapse of the Reform Party in 2000.

Other positions adopted by Kauffman that are considered controversial to both the Left and the Right include his support for the Second Vermont Republic secessionist movement, his admiration for 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern, his argument that Catholic Worker activist Dorothy Day had much in common with elements of the Right, and his contention that Philip Roth's book "The Plot Against America" is "the novel that a neoconservative would write, if a neoconservative could write a novel." In 2004, he endorsed Ralph Nader for President of the United States. On September 2, he addressed the Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, MN, put on by Ron Paul (R-TX).

His books include "Every Man a King" (1989), a novel about a young senatorial aide who, disgusted with politics, returns to his rural New York hometown to start a new life; "Country Towns of New York" (1993), a travel book; "America First!: Its History, Politics, and Culture" (1995), a history of American populist, isolationist, and anti-imperialist thought; "With Good Intentions?: Reflections on the Myth of Progress in America" (1998), a collection of (often approving) profiles of the opponents of school consolidation, child labor laws, a standing army, women's suffrage, and the Interstate Highway System, as well as the proponents of homesteading as a means of battling the Great Depression; "Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette: A Mostly Affectionate Account of a Small Town’s Fight to Survive" (2003), the story of Batavia and its decline; and "Look Homeward America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Porch Anarchists" (2006), a meditation on American political, literary, and artistic figures whose values he admires. He also edited "A Story of America First" (2003), a memoir by the America First Committee's congressional liaison, Ruth Sarles. His latest book, "Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Anti-War Conservatism and Middle American Anti-Imperialism", was published in 2008 by Henry Holt and Company.

A devout Roman Catholic, Kauffman is also an intimate correspondent of Gore Vidal, with whom he shares many ideological similarities.

External links

* [http://www.reactionaryradicals.com Reactionary Radicals Blog]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/bill-kauffman.html Biography from Advocates for Self-Government]
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2004/2004_09_13/article1.html Democracy in Vermont] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2004/2004_09_27/review.html Heil to the Chief] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2005/2005_12_19/article.html Free Vermont] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_01_30/article.html Come Home, America] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_07_31/review.html Disappearing Democrats] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_01_14/review1.html Mr. Jefferson Comes Home] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/June2003/0603Kauffman.html The Patriot] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://crookedlakereview.com/articles/34_66/38may1991/38kauffman.html Back to Batavia] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://crookedlakereview.com/articles/34_66/43oct1991/43kauffman.html New York vs. New York] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://crookedlakereview.com/articles/34_66/47feb1992/47kauffman.html Henry and Louise in the Lair de Clune] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://crookedlakereview.com/articles/34_66/59feb1993/59kauffman.html Warren Hunting Smith: The Quintessential Genevan] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://crookedlakereview.com/articles/34_66/61apr1993/61kauffman.html Walter Edmonds: Our Stalwart] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.crookedlakereview.com/articles/67_100/100july1996/100kauffman.html Ed Harris: Thanks for the Memoirs] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/kauffman06252003.html My America vs. the Empire: Why I'm Not Ashamed to be an American] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/kauffman10272003.html George Bush, the Anti-Family President: An Empire of Widows and Orphans] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/kauffman03112004.html Hey, Ralph! Why Not Another Party of the People?] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/kauffman05212004.html Nader v. Bush: Why an Underdog May be the Best Antidote to the Neo-Cons] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/kauffman04162008.html The Candidates from Nowhere] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.fww.org/articles/congres1/bkauffma.htm Think Locally, Act Locally, Live Locally] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.newpantagruel.com/issues/2.3/anarchism.php Anarchism] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/311 Bye-Bye, Ms. American Empire] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.reason.com/news/show/29321.html An Interview with Eldridge Cleaver] by Lynn Scarlett and Bill Kauffman
* [http://www.reason.com/news/show/33217.html An Interview with Clarence Thomas] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0GER/is_2000_Summer/ai_63500751 The Way of Love: Dorothy Day and the American Right] by Bill Kauffman
* [http://crookedlakereview.com/articles/136_167/139spring2006/139treichler.html A Review of Look Homeward, America] by Bill Treichler
* [http://www.reason.com/blog/printer/114005.html Reactionary Radicals, Unite] by Brian Doherty
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_06_05/review.html All American Anarchists] by Rod Dreher
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance98.html Bill Kauffman: American Anarchist] by Laurence M. Vance
* [https://www.reason.com/news/show/117070.html Paradise Lost] by John McClaughry
* [http://calitreview.com/2007/07/05/look-homeward-america-by-bill-kauffman/ A Stand Against Empire] by Robert C. Cheeks
* [http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_05_05/review.html Fewer Bases, More Baseball] by Daniel McCarthy
* Five-part interview with Bill Kauffman: [http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/2006/10/bill_kauffman_a.html#003446 Introduction] [http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/2006/10/a_week_with_bil.html#003448 Part One] [http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/2006/10/a_week_with_bil_1.html Part Two] [http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/2006/10/a_week_with_bil_2.html Part Three] [http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/2006/10/a_week_with_bil_3.html Part Four] [http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/2006/10/a_week_with_bil_4.html Part Five]
* [http://antiwar.com/radio/2008/05/21/bill-kauffman/ Antiwar Radio: Scott Horton Interviews Bill Kauffman]