Irving Kristol, R.I.P.

Irving Kristol, columnist and writer who was also one of the founding fathers of neoconservatism, passed away on September 18 at the age of 89. His was an interesting life, one marked by a series of significant transitions as he moved from Trotskyite to socialist to anti-communist liberal to neoconservative. His religious beliefs underwent a similar series of transitions. Raised in a poor, non-observant Jewish family, he became increasingly religious and eventually came to believe that institutional religion was American society’s only hope for a recovery from its spiritual malaise. This no doubt contributed to his decision, late in life, to become a practicing Jew.

For 20 years Kristol taught social thought and policy at NYU and then in 1989 became a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. I first encountered him when, back in the late seventies, I picked up a copy of The Public Interest, the journal he co-founded and edited. I also enjoyed reading him in The National Interest, another journal he founded in the mid-eighties. While I didn't always agree with him, I found his arguments well thought out and persuasive. His son, Bill Kristol, has assumed the mantle, and is now editor of The Weekly Standard, perhaps the nation's leading neoconservative magazine.

Rest in peace.