John Hood received a letter from William F. Buckley 20 years ago.

Then editor of his college newspaper, the president of the John Locke Foundation said he was inspired by the famous conservative who died earlier today.

"It was very brief but gracious and nice," Hood said of the letter. "It helped to cement my own career aspirations."

Hood credits Buckley, who is heralded as the founder of the post-World War II conservative movement, for where he is today. "I'm not sure I'd be doing what I'm doing if Bill Buckely had not blazed the trail," he said. "Buckley helped to create the post-war conservative consensus."

He also said Buckley influenced conservative organizations and magazines across the country, including in North Carolina.

"Organizations like The John Locke Foundation and publications like our Carolina Journal probably wouldn't exist in their current form if Bill Buckley had not created National Review in the 1950s," Hood said.

Hood met Buckley several times in Washington, D.C., but they were not close. Hood often writes for The National Review, the magazine founded by Buckley in 1955.

"I was shocked and saddened to hear the news today," he said of Buckley's death. "The conservative movement and American politics clearly bear his impact."