Gore Vidal Debates William F. Buckley Jr.

      Sorry this is not a new debate between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr., but rather a debate from 1968. Any Gore Vidal fan will know one of these debates as the one where Vidal called Buckley a "pro-crypto-Nazi,". There are a variety of media of the exchange and it is true history. If you have 1/2 an hour in your day, I highly suggest a listen.

At the Aug. 22 debate in Chicago - the penultimate encounter in the series, with an estimated 10 million people watching - things began with relative calm. But it didn’t stay that way, and before long the men began exchanging words that one simply didn’t hear on TV at that time (see box below). Vidal called Buckley a "pro-crypto-Nazi," a modest slip of the tongue, he later said, because he was searching for the word "fascist" and it just didn't come out. Inflamed by the word "Nazi" and the whole tenor of the discussion, Buckley snapped: "Now listen, you queer," he said, "stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in you goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered." Smith attempted to calm the exchange with "gentlemen, let's not call names," but the damage had been done. The two men, considerably subdued, met the following night for the last of their week of debates.