Buckley-Vidal matches get 'world premiere' after live airing 40 years ago

Photo by Special to The Commercial Appeal

Debates between William F. Buckley Jr. (left) and Gore Vidal were part of ABC News' coverage of the 1968 political conventions.

Pop culture and politics collide Thursday night when the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art screens -- for perhaps the first time anywhere in four decades -- the eight infamous, nationally televised debates between William F. Buckley Jr., a conservative commentator known for his dry wit and polysyllabic erudition, and Gore Vidal, the liberal author perhaps most popularly recognized at that time for his satirical novel about transsexuality, "Myra Breckenridge."

Photo by Special to The Commercial Appeal

Debates between William F. Buckley Jr. (left) and Gore Vidal were part of ABC News' coverage of the 1968 political conventions.

Tom Graves

Originally recorded during the Republican and Democratic national conventions of 1968, the debates, staged by ABC News as part of the network's live convention coverage, degenerated at times into harsh insults and near fisticuffs, with Vidal calling Buckley a "crypto-Nazi" and Buckley labeling Vidal a pornographer and "queer," adding: "I'll sock you in your (gosh-darn) face, and you'll stay plastered."

"It may be the first time someone was outed on live television," said Tom Graves, 54, an assistant professor of literature and humanities at LeMoyne-Owen College, who has been fascinated with the debates since he was a teenager.

Graves organized the event at the Brooks, and he will introduce the screening, which runs about two hours.

Graves -- whose books include the recent "Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson" -- has been researching the debates for years, in part so he could write "Buckley vs. Vidal," an as-yet- unproduced "Frost/Nixon"-style stage play.

During his research, Graves said he discovered that the only authorized copies of the debates are in the archives of ABC News and Vanderbilt University.

"These are historic debates, and they've been impossible to come by," he said.

Through a Vidal family contact, Graves was able to secure a copy of the debates, with permission to screen it in Memphis.

"This is more or less a world premiere," he said. "I can guarantee you, if this were in New York, people would be lined up to see it."

Graves said the debates are important not just as social history and political theater, but also because they demonstrate "how relevant the politics of 1968 are to today. The Vietnam War, the divisions in the country, the inability of the right and the left to acknowledge each other's points of view..."

The debates also remind us of a time when intellectuals could be celebrities. (Comparing the recent Bill Maher-Anne Coulter sparring matches to Buckley vs. Vidal would be like comparing the Osmonds to the Beatles.)

Although Buckley (who died last year at the age of 82) and Vidal (now 83) didn't like each other, they remained relatively civil until the seventh debate, which took place against a backdrop of street violence during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

"Buckley was known for getting people on his show (PBS's 'Firing Line'), he would absolutely spin a spider's web around them -- he would use those 10-syllable words as weapons. Well, Vidal knew those words, so there was no getting around him. I think this was one time when Buckley absolutely met his match, and that's one reason these debates are fascinating."

William F. Buckley Jr. vs Gore Vidal

The screening is at 7 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $5, or free for Brooks members and LeMoyne-Owen students and faculty. Visit brooksmuseum.org or call 544-6208.

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