Bill Kristol
A leading architect of the neoconservative movement, he shaped decades of American foreign policy debate from think tanks to cable news green rooms.
Born 1952 (age 74)·American political comentator and government official·Birthday: December 23·Baby Boomers
Biography
Bill Kristol's political identity was forged in the world of ideas. The son of intellectual powerhouse Irving Kristol, he traded a Harvard professorship for the trenches of Washington, serving as chief of staff to education secretary William Bennett and then to Vice President Dan Quayle. It was from this insider perch that he began to articulate a muscular, interventionist foreign policy vision. In 1995, he co-founded The Weekly Standard, which became the spirited and influential house organ for neoconservative thought during the Clinton and Bush eras. Kristol became a ubiquitous television presence, advocating forcefully for the Iraq War and later emerging as a fierce critic of Donald Trump's brand of populist nationalism. After the Standard's closure, he helped launch The Bulwark, a platform for never-Trump conservative commentary, cementing his role as a figure who defines political movements by both championing and, later, opposing their evolution.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Bill was born in 1952, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bill Was Born
The biggest hits of 1952
#1 Movie
The Greatest Show on Earth
Best Picture
The Greatest Show on Earth
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Bill's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1952Born
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1957Started school
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1965Became a teenager
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Could drive
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1970Could vote
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Turned 21
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1982Turned 30
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 40
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 50
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 60
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 70
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 74 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- He founded and served as editor of The Weekly Standard, a influential political magazine that defined neoconservative thought for over two decades.
- He was a leading public intellectual advocate for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, shaping mainstream conservative opinion on the war.
- He helped establish the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a think tank that significantly influenced U.S. foreign policy in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
- He co-founded The Bulwark, a digital publication focused on anti-Trump conservative commentary and analysis.
Did You Know?
He was the campaign manager for Alan Keyes's long-shot 1988 presidential bid.
Before politics, he taught philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.
He played a minor role as a White House aide in the film 'Dave' (1993).
His father, Irving Kristol, is often called the 'godfather of neoconservatism.'
““The point of conservatism is not to preach to the converted, it's to convert the preached-to.””
