WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY, Jr. is more than a politically powerful Republican; he is a polysyllabic lecturer-debater, a popular syndicated columnist, the editor-in-chief of America's most famous conservative magazine, the host of TV's "Firing Line" program, and the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books. A Renaissance Man in an age of mediocrity , Bill Buckley is admired by many, liberals included. But there is a dark side to this Renaissance Man, all the more shocking for the very reason that he is a man of such enormous talent and influence. David Miller's intense, inexhaustible research is a searing light, and Chairman Bill is in the hot seat for four unrelenting volumes of Miller's dogged scrutiny. This book is Volume One.