James L. Buckley, a conservative recruit from Connecticut who invaded the New York strongholds of Democrats and liberal Republicans in 1970 and against the odds won a United States Senate seat on the Conservative Party line, died early Friday in Washington. His death, in Sibley Memorial Hospital, resulted from complications of a fall, according to his nephew Christopher Buckley, the author and political satirist. With his improbable victory, Mr. Buckley became the first third-party candidate to land a seat in the United States Senate since Robert M. LaFollette Jr. of Wisconsin was elected on the Progressive ticket in 1940. In 1985, President Reagan named him to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Mr. Buckley served as a federal judge for 15 years, the last four as a semiretired senior judge.

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Persons: James L, Buckley, Christopher Buckley, Robert M, LaFollette Jr, —, Ronald Reagan, Reagan Organizations: Republicans, United, United States Senate, Conservative Party, Sibley Memorial, United States, Progressive, Republican, State Department, Radio Free, Radio Liberty, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit Locations: Connecticut, York, United States, Washington, Sibley, Wisconsin, Radio Free Europe