Tom Piatak

July 16, 2009

In her great memoir of the Reagan White House, What I Saw at the Revolution, Peggy Noonan expressed her admiration for the speechwriting team of the Nixon White House, calling Pat Buchanan, William Safire, and Ray Price the “Murderers’ Row” of speechwriters.  Today, I had the pleasure of hearing from one of those Nixon alumni about another Nixon alumnus in response to my piece on Apollo 11.  Takimag contributor and reader Pat Buchanan was next to Ray Price at Cape Canaveral, three miles from where the massive Saturn V propelled Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins into space 40 years ago today.  Price’s reaction after liftoff:  “The sound alone is worth the $24 billion.”  It is hard to imagine any more recent White House speechwriter capturing a moment in history as perfectly as Price did.