“Nobody, but nobody, was more at the heart of this. Rusher’s fingerprints were everywhere—and not just involved, but you get a feeling that he was pulling an awful lot of the strings.” — Richard Viguerie, referring to Rusher’s role in the conservative movement over several decades
“Probably the most underrated major conservative leader.” — M. Stanton Evans
“The ultimate cosmopolitan, he nevertheless was one of the architects of the disaster that overtook the Establishment, which he only seemed to embody.” — Jeffrey Hart
“A natural teacher in all things, not just politics.” — Lee Edwards
“He was always compelling when he was on a public podium.” — William F. Buckley Jr.
“People would defer to Bill Rusher, and they had confidence in him. Of course, Bill Buckley was the one who was ten feet tall. But Bill would not get in there and mix it up politically. He wouldn’t roll up his sleeves and slug it out with everybody … When Rusher mixed it up, his gravitas—and his experience and knowledge, and toughness and determination—invariably would carry the day.” — Richard Viguerie
“He would look on the bright side and try to cheer me up, or get me to be more supportive of whatever was going on.” — M. Stanton Evans
“Our best guy, our heaviest machinery.” — Shawn Steel, explaining his judgment as Young Americans for Freedom state chairman that Rusher should be YAF’s speaker on the Vietnam War, in debates at California universities in 1968
“Buckley, rightly so, was known as a great debater. But I think in a sense that Bill Rusher … was even a better debater than Bill Buckley … I think he very often would have a better command of facts, of figures: the lawyer preparing himself for a particular presentation.” — Lee Edwards
“He didn’t use diversions, he didn’t use humor to deflect. He just came right at it, in terms of the substance. He never ran away from dealing with the substance.” — Howard Miller, Rusher’s main debate adversary on The Advocates
“I have great confidence in your judgment, and wouldn’t want to do without your input and counsel.” — Ronald Reagan
“Your role as sage and shepherd of the conservative movement has been a personal inspiration to me.” — Edwin Meese
“I think of him as bright, well-read, resolute, committed; and a good wordsmith, good orator. I’ve had decades of personal experience with him, so I’ve seen him in a number of roles, and he is all of the things that I’ve mentioned. I don’t think anybody would disagree with that.” —William F. Buckley Jr.
“So smart, and so serious, and so focused, full-time … superior in feeling, preparation, energy.” — Barry Farber, prominent talk radio host in New York
“The great unsung hero of the conservative movement.” — Mark Levin
“One of the most important leaders of modern conservatism.” — Donald T. Critchlow, historian
“The most consequential political strategist of the postwar conservative movement.” — Richard Brookhiser, author and longtime National Review writer
“One of the premier examples of the rare combination of thought and action.” — Steven F. Hayward, author of the classic two-volume history The Age of Reagan
“If William F. Buckley Jr. was the light shining from the lighthouse of the conservative movement, William A. Rusher was the lighthouse. If Buckley designed the lighthouse, Rusher built it. If Buckley was the “conservative,” Rusher was the “movement.” And move he did.” —Daniel Oliver, former National Review staff member, Federal Trade Commission chairman under President Reagan
“Nobody who knew him even slightly could doubt his intelligence, his deep erudition, his zest for life, and his focused determination. But the mild manner, the precise language, the lawyerly demeanor, and the orderly habits … hid a ferocious heart.” — Wick Allison, Rusher’s successor as publisher at National Review
“He kept up an unrelenting schedule of meetings, conferences, and talks, all centered on building the infrastructure of a conservative movement capable of countering the overwhelming liberal dominance … He encouraged new organizations, lent his efforts to their fundraising, and served on their boards … Hillary Clinton was right. There is a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” Bill Rusher is the man responsible for it.” — Wick Allison
“The indomitable spirit of the American Right … Bill Rusher was the most impassioned and forceful presence in the modern conservative movement.” — Neal Freeman
“A competitive fire born of utter conviction. I can see him now—coiled forward in his chair, the klieg lights glinting off his no-nonsense glasses, measuring his opponent with gimlet eye, awaiting the opening that he knows will surely come … For an entire generation of American conservatives, Bill Rusher was our lawyer. We were all his pro bono clients, deeply grateful that he cared so much, and that he pressed our case so effectively.” — Neal Freeman
