ABSTRACT
Political commentator George F. Will is one of America’s most respected opinion leaders. His biweekly syndicated columns and bimonthly Newsweek articles won him the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977. In addition, the members of the US Congress and their staffs voted Will their most admired journalist in a 1983 Washington Journalism Review poll. For many conservatives who believe that the nation’s news media project a liberal bias, George F. Will’s success as a political commentator makes him suspect. Will, in fact, is a self-styled political and cultural conservative. It must seem peculiar that a number of philosophical conservatives often harshly criticize America’s most widely recognized conservative commentator. An examination of Will’s brand of conservatism clarifies the sources of these criticisms. Will’s critics complain that his writings carry a touch of arrogance concerning the correctness of his own views and how these views reflect a coherent public philosophy. There may be some justification for this complaint.
