# Rich Lowry
**Rich Lowry** is an American conservative political commentator who serves as editor in chief of *National Review*, the magazine founded by [William F. Buckley Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-f-buckley-jr) in 1955[1](https://www.nationalreview.com/author/rich-lowry/). Buckley selected him to lead the publication in 1997, when Lowry was 29 and its little-known Washington correspondent[2](https://nrinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IdeasSummit-PanelistBIOS.pdf) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/). In addition to his editorial work, Lowry writes a syndicated column distributed through King Features, has written a weekly column for *Politico*, and appears regularly on television[4](https://reason.com/video/2022/12/16/american-nationalism-rich-lowry-vs-alex-nowrasteh/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position | Editor in chief of *National Review*[1](https://www.nationalreview.com/author/rich-lowry/) |
| Appointment | Selected by William F. Buckley in 1997 to lead the magazine[2](https://nrinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IdeasSummit-PanelistBIOS.pdf) |
| Education | University of Virginia, class of 1986; grew up in Arlington, Virginia[5](https://booknotes.c-span.org/FullPage.aspx?SID=178993-1) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/) |
| Books | *Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years* (a *New York Times* bestseller), *Lincoln Unbound*, and *The Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and Free*[2](https://nrinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IdeasSummit-PanelistBIOS.pdf) • [4](https://reason.com/video/2022/12/16/american-nationalism-rich-lowry-vs-alex-nowrasteh/) |
| Syndication | Syndicated column via King Features Weekly Service; weekly column for *Politico*[4](https://reason.com/video/2022/12/16/american-nationalism-rich-lowry-vs-alex-nowrasteh/) |
| 2021 role change | Handed oversight of the print magazine to Ramesh Ponnuru while continuing as editor in chief[6](https://www.axios.com/2021/06/22/national-review-editor-rich-lowry) |
| Bias rating | AllSides rates Lowry as an author source with a Right rating[7](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/rich-lowry-media-bias) |
## Early life and education
Lowry grew up in Arlington, Virginia, and attended the [University of Virginia](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-virginia)[5](https://booknotes.c-span.org/FullPage.aspx?SID=178993-1). His interest in opinion writing began in high school through William F. Buckley: he watched Buckley's show *Firing Line*, read his books, and decided by that age that he wanted to be an opinion writer[5](https://booknotes.c-span.org/FullPage.aspx?SID=178993-1). At the university he joined the *Advocate*, a conservative student paper, and became a friend of Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia professor who described him as unusually interested in public policy for a student[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/).
## Career before the editorship
After graduating in 1986, Lowry spent a year as a research assistant to the syndicated columnist [Charles Krauthammer](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-krauthammer)[2](https://nrinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IdeasSummit-PanelistBIOS.pdf) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/). He then worked as a reporter for the Connection newspapers, suburban weeklies in northern Virginia, covering local news such as PTA meetings[5](https://booknotes.c-span.org/FullPage.aspx?SID=178993-1) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/).
He joined *National Review* in New York as a low-level editor, returned to Washington in 1994 as the magazine's correspondent, and worked as a writer there before being named editor[5](https://booknotes.c-span.org/FullPage.aspx?SID=178993-1) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/).
## Editor of National Review
**The appointment.** When John O'Sullivan stepped down as editor in 1997, Buckley chose Lowry, then 29, for the job, an appointment that surprised many at a magazine Buckley considered the incubator of the modern conservative movement[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/). In a 2021 interview Lowry said he had been doing the job since the beginning of 1998[6](https://www.axios.com/2021/06/22/national-review-editor-rich-lowry).
**Reviving the magazine.** A 2000 *Washington Post* profile described Lowry as re-energizing a publication that had acquired a fuddy-duddy reputation and been overshadowed by newer rivals. He launched *National Review Online*, which the profile credited with helping lift print circulation from 140,000 to 160,000, and published articles on popular culture alongside the magazine's traditional political and policy coverage[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/). Lowry told the Post that *National Review* was not a Republican magazine: "When Republicans move off conservative principles and ideas we support, we can be very vicious"[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/).
**The Trump conflict.** In January 2016 the magazine assembled a symposium titled "Against Trump", which drew a unanimous on-air rebuke from a [Fox News](https://www.edgepedia.org/fox-news) panel that included Lowry's fellow Fox regulars[8](https://newsbusters.org/node/103492). Charles J. Sykes, in his 2017 book *How the Right Lost Its Mind*, listed Lowry among the conservative intellectuals targeted by candidate Trump's insults; Trump had called Lowry "the worst"[9](https://time.com/4963229/charles-j-sykes-where-the-right-went-wrong/). In a March 2017 *National Review* piece titled "Trumpism Is in Crisis", Lowry argued that no officeholder in Washington understood Trump's populism or had a cogent theory of how to effect it, including the president himself[10](https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/03/donald-trump-republicans-trumpism-crisis/).
## Editor in chief, 2021 transition
In June 2021 Lowry announced that he would hand off oversight of the print publication to Ramesh Ponnuru, a longtime *National Review* editor and Bloomberg Opinion columnist, while remaining editor in chief with responsibility for overall editorial policy and long-term strategy, including donor relationships and speaking engagements. The changes took effect the following January[6](https://www.axios.com/2021/06/22/national-review-editor-rich-lowry).
At the time of the transition, *National Review* had roughly 110,000 subscribers, about half of them digital, and had increased digital subscriptions about 30 percent over the previous year. The company, a subsidiary of the nonprofit National Review Institute, had raised more than $1 million in small-dollar donations over the prior year; Lowry said an overall operating loss of almost $2 million a few years earlier had closed to near break-even[6](https://www.axios.com/2021/06/22/national-review-editor-rich-lowry).
## Writing, broadcasting, and podcasts
Lowry's books include *Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years*, a *New York Times* bestseller, *Lincoln Unbound*, and *The Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and Free*[2](https://nrinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IdeasSummit-PanelistBIOS.pdf) • [4](https://reason.com/video/2022/12/16/american-nationalism-rich-lowry-vs-alex-nowrasteh/). A review of *The Case for Nationalism* in an academic journal noted his argument for a culturally unified America but judged his list of prerequisites for a "culturally American" person to fall short of persuasion for readers without his cultural sensibilities[11](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7786861/).
His broadcast work has shifted networks over time: a 2015 National Review Institute biography described him as a commentator for the Fox News Channel who appeared on programs such as *Meet the Press* and *This Week*[2](https://nrinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IdeasSummit-PanelistBIOS.pdf), while a 2022 debate profile described him as a commentator for [NBC News](https://www.edgepedia.org/nbc-news)[4](https://reason.com/video/2022/12/16/american-nationalism-rich-lowry-vs-alex-nowrasteh/). In December 2022 he debated the [Cato Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/cato-institute)'s Alex Nowrasteh at The Soho Forum on the resolution "Nationalism is an important value that Americans should support"[4](https://reason.com/video/2022/12/16/american-nationalism-rich-lowry-vs-alex-nowrasteh/).
He co-hosts two *National Review* podcasts. *The McCarthy Report*, produced since 2018, pairs him with the former federal prosecutor and law professor Andrew C. McCarthy for legal and political analysis[12](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-mccarthy-report/id1396508525). *The Editors* features a rotating panel of *National Review* editors discussing the week's news[13](https://podcastrex.com/shows/the-editors/episode-910-longhorns-and-loudmouths).
## Public position
AllSides rates Lowry as an author source with a Right bias rating, its most conservative category, describing sources at that rating as strongly aligned with conservative thought and policy agendas[7](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/rich-lowry-media-bias). In a 2025 *[Reason](https://www.edgepedia.org/reason-magazine)* debate on whether mass immigration is good for America, Lowry argued the negative side alongside Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, against Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward and Cato's Alex Nowrasteh[14](https://reason.com/?p=8352209&post_type=podcast).
## References
1. [Rich Lowry author page, National Review](https://www.nationalreview.com/author/rich-lowry/)
2. [Rich Lowry panelist biography, National Review Institute Ideas Summit 2015](https://nrinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IdeasSummit-PanelistBIOS.pdf)
3. [Howard Kurtz, "Buzz on the Right", The Washington Post, December 25, 2000](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/12/26/buzz-on-the-right/0a70162b-4c09-4e3f-8137-e43ecfa06086/)
4. ["American Nationalism: Rich Lowry vs. Alex Nowrasteh", Reason, December 16, 2022](https://reason.com/video/2022/12/16/american-nationalism-rich-lowry-vs-alex-nowrasteh/)
5. [Rich Lowry interview, Booknotes, C-SPAN](https://booknotes.c-span.org/FullPage.aspx?SID=178993-1)
6. ["Rich Lowry to hand off National Review's print magazine, take on editor-in-chief role", Axios, June 22, 2021](https://www.axios.com/2021/06/22/national-review-editor-rich-lowry)
7. [Rich Lowry Media Bias, AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/rich-lowry-media-bias)
8. ["National Review Takes a Unanimous Beating on Fox's 'Outnumbered' for Opposing Trump", Newsbusters, January 22, 2016](https://newsbusters.org/node/103492)
9. [Charles J. Sykes, "Where the Right Went Wrong", excerpt from *How the Right Lost Its Mind*, Time, September 2017](https://time.com/4963229/charles-j-sykes-where-the-right-went-wrong/)
10. [Rich Lowry, "Trumpism Is in Crisis", National Review, March 2017](https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/03/donald-trump-republicans-trumpism-crisis/)
11. ["Minding the Nation Anew: Reflections on Recent Studies of Nationalism", PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7786861/)
12. [The McCarthy Report, Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-mccarthy-report/id1396508525)
13. [The Editors, Episode 910, Podcast Rex](https://podcastrex.com/shows/the-editors/episode-910-longhorns-and-loudmouths)
14. ["Reason versus National Review: Is Mass Immigration Good for America?", Reason](https://reason.com/?p=8352209&post_type=podcast)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Political systems and ideas › Political ideologies › Conservatism › Conservatism by country › Conservatism in the United States*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license