Ronald Radosh
Encyclopedia
Ronald Radosh is an American writer
, professor
, historian
, former Marxist, and neoconservative. He is known for his work on the Cold War
espionage
case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and his advocacy of the state of Israel.
His most recent book, co-authored with his wife, scholar Allis Radosh, is "A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel", published by HarperCollins in 2009.
. His parents, Reuben Radosh and Ida Kretschman, were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire
. He has stated that his earliest memory is of being taken to a May Day
parade in New York
's Union Square
.
During the 1940s
and 1950s
, he attended the Little Red School House
and Elisabeth Irwin High School, both of which were private school
s attended mainly by the children of New York's Communists. He also attended the Communist-run Camp Woodland for Children in the Catskill Mountains
. His memoirs vividly describe school-day encounters with Mary Travers
, Woody Guthrie
and Peter Seeger. On June 19, 1953, he demonstrated in Union Square with other members of the Labor Youth League against the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
.
Radosh began attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in the fall of 1955. He has said that his desire at the time was to study history
, which Karl Marx
considered queen of the sciences, and to become a leader in America's Communist movement. Despite being raised to always defend the actions of the Soviet Union
, Radosh developed a close friendship with Prof. George Mosse, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany
and convinced anti-Stalinist.
In 1959, he arrived at the University of Iowa
intending to work towards his Master's Degree
. Despite being raised in a Stalinist family, Radosh was shocked by the revelations of the dictator's crimes which began to be released during the Khrushchev thaw
. Although he had been a leader of Madison's Labor Youth League, he eventually broke with the Soviet-backed Party of his parents and became a founding father of the American New Left
. Radosh's fondness for the writings of Isaac Deutscher
enraged the Madison Party cell. Their attempts to bring him back into the Party line
was a major part of Radosh's break with Communism. In 1963, he returned to New York City
with his wife and children.
Soon after, Radosh also joined the New York chapter of Students for a Democratic Society
.
in Washington, D.C.
, and professor of history emeritus at Queensborough Community College
of the City University of New York
. His commentaries on the Rosenbergs and other topics have appeared in The New Republic
, The Weekly Standard
and National Review
, and the blog Frontpagemag.com
. His memoirs are entitled Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left, and the Leftover Left.
In the 1983 book, The Rosenberg File, he and co-author Joyce Milton conclude that Julius Rosenberg was guilty of espionage and that Ethel was aware of his activities. A second edition in 1997 incorporates newly obtained evidence from the former Soviet Union. Radosh also condemns prosecutorial misconduct in the case.
weekend, and after the ceremony we drove into New York to spend one night in town. We celebrated our wedding by watching the annual proletarian Labor Day parade that still marched through downtown New York." They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In October, 1975, Radosh married Allis Rosenberg, an American History Ph.D., with whom he has co-authored two books. The couple reside in Martinsburg, West Virginia
. Radosh's son Daniel
is an author, blogger and staff writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, former Marxist, and neoconservative. He is known for his work on the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and his advocacy of the state of Israel.
His most recent book, co-authored with his wife, scholar Allis Radosh, is "A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel", published by HarperCollins in 2009.
Early life
Radosh was born in the Lower East Side, ManhattanLower East Side, Manhattan
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. His parents, Reuben Radosh and Ida Kretschman, were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. He has stated that his earliest memory is of being taken to a May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
parade in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Union Square
Union Square (New York City)
Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...
.
During the 1940s
1940s
File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
and 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
, he attended the Little Red School House
Little Red School House
The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, was founded by Elisabeth Irwin in 1921 in Manhattan, New York City as the Little Red School House, and is regarded as the city's first progressive school...
and Elisabeth Irwin High School, both of which were private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
s attended mainly by the children of New York's Communists. He also attended the Communist-run Camp Woodland for Children in the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
. His memoirs vividly describe school-day encounters with Mary Travers
Mary Travers (singer)
Mary Allin Travers was an American singer-songwriter and member of the folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary, along with Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey...
, Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
and Peter Seeger. On June 19, 1953, he demonstrated in Union Square with other members of the Labor Youth League against the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg were American communists who were convicted and executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage during a time of war. The charges related to their passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union...
.
Radosh began attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in the fall of 1955. He has said that his desire at the time was to study history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, which Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
considered queen of the sciences, and to become a leader in America's Communist movement. Despite being raised to always defend the actions of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Radosh developed a close friendship with Prof. George Mosse, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and convinced anti-Stalinist.
In 1959, he arrived at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
intending to work towards his Master's Degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
. Despite being raised in a Stalinist family, Radosh was shocked by the revelations of the dictator's crimes which began to be released during the Khrushchev thaw
Khrushchev Thaw
The Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s, when repression and censorship in the Soviet Union were partially reversed and millions of Soviet political prisoners were released from Gulag labor camps, due to Nikita Khrushchev's policies of de-Stalinization and...
. Although he had been a leader of Madison's Labor Youth League, he eventually broke with the Soviet-backed Party of his parents and became a founding father of the American New Left
New Left
The New Left was a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and United States in reference to activists, educators, agitators and others in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to implement a broad range of reforms, in contrast to earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had taken a more vanguardist...
. Radosh's fondness for the writings of Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher was a Polish-born Jewish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom at the outbreak of World War II. He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs...
enraged the Madison Party cell. Their attempts to bring him back into the Party line
Party line
The phrase party line may refer to:*Party line , an informal term for the agenda of a political party*Party line , a system where multiple telephone customers are connected to the same phone line...
was a major part of Radosh's break with Communism. In 1963, he returned to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with his wife and children.
Vietnam War
After teaching at two community colleges in Brooklyn, Radosh joined New York's chapter of the Committee to Stop the War in Vietnam. He recalls,When Norman ThomasNorman ThomasNorman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
died in 1967, I wrote what may have been the only published negative assessment of his life. Most obituaries heralded Thomas as the nation's conscience, a man of principle who had turned out to be right about a great deal. Of course, Thomas was against the war in Vietnam; he had made a famous speech in which he said he came not to burn the American flag but to cleanse it. But for radicals like myself, that proved that he was a sellout. His opposition to the war was so tame, I argued, that he actually helped the American ruling classRuling classThe term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society....
. I claimed that Thomas' opposition to LBJ's bombing campaign was only a "tactical" difference with the President. Thomas' chief sin, in my view, was to have written that he did not, "regard Vietcong terrorismTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
as virtuous." He was guilty of attacking the heroic Vietnamese people, instead of the United States, which was the enemy of the world's people. My final judgment was that Thomas had "accepted the Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, its ideology and ethics and had decided to enlist in fighting its battles" on the wrong -- the anti-communist -- side.
Soon after, Radosh also joined the New York chapter of Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
.
Career
Radosh is currently an Adjunct Fellow at the Hudson InstituteHudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and professor of history emeritus at Queensborough Community College
Queensborough Community College
Not to be confused with Queens College, City University of New YorkQueensborough Community College , is one of six community colleges within the City University of New York system. It is located in the neighborhood of Bayside, Queens County, New York City, New York. The total enrollments are...
of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
. His commentaries on the Rosenbergs and other topics have appeared in The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
and National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, and the blog Frontpagemag.com
FrontPageMag.com
FrontPage Magazine is a conservative online political magazine, edited by David Horowitz and published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center , a non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California.-FPM Man of the Year:On January 1, 2007, FrontPage Magazine named Ignacio Ramos and Jose...
. His memoirs are entitled Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left, and the Leftover Left.
In the 1983 book, The Rosenberg File, he and co-author Joyce Milton conclude that Julius Rosenberg was guilty of espionage and that Ethel was aware of his activities. A second edition in 1997 incorporates newly obtained evidence from the former Soviet Union. Radosh also condemns prosecutorial misconduct in the case.
Family
Ronald Radosh married Alice Schweig on the summer of 1959. He recalls, "Our wedding was on Labor DayLabor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend, and after the ceremony we drove into New York to spend one night in town. We celebrated our wedding by watching the annual proletarian Labor Day parade that still marched through downtown New York." They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In October, 1975, Radosh married Allis Rosenberg, an American History Ph.D., with whom he has co-authored two books. The couple reside in Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...
. Radosh's son Daniel
Daniel Radosh
Daniel Radosh is an American journalist and blogger. Radosh is presently a staff writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was previously a contributing editor at The Week. He writes occasionally for The New Yorker...
is an author, blogger and staff writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Books
- American Labor and United States Foreign Policy. New York: Random House, 1969.
- Debs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971.
- A New History of Leviathan: Essays on the American Corporate State. Editor, with Murray RothbardMurray RothbardMurray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1972. - Prophets On The Right: Profiles of Conservative Critics of American Globalism. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975.
- The New Cuba: Paradoxes and Potentials. New York: Morrow, 1976.
- The Rosenberg File: A Search for Truth. With Joyce Milton. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983; Reissued with new introduction: New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
- Divided They Fell: The Demise of the Democratic Party, 1964-1996. New York: Free Press, 1996.
- The Amerasia Spy Case: Prelude to McCarthyism. With Harvey KlehrHarvey KlehrHarvey E. Klehr is a professor of politics and history at Emory University; he is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist movement, and on Soviet espionage in America ....
. University of North Carolina Press, 1996. - Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left, and the Leftover Left. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2001.
- Spain Betrayed: The Soviet Union in the Spanish Civil War with Mary R. HabeckMary R. HabeckMary R. Habeck is an American scholar of international relations. She received her PhD from Yale University and is currently Associate Professor of Strategic Studies at the Johns Hopkins University.Fluent in Russian, she has collaborated with Ronald Radosh....
and Grigorii Nikolaevich Sevostianov. New Haven: Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2001. - Red Star Over Hollywood: The Film Colony's Long Romance With The Left. With Allis Radosh. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2005.
- A Safe Haven Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel. With Allis Radosh. New York: HarperCollins, 2009.
Articles
- The Sandbagging of Robert "KC" Johnson
- Why Conservatives Are So Upset with Thomas Woods's Politically Incorrect History Book
- Books in Review. The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression
External links
- Comprehensive list of articles, Hudson Institute.
- The Two Faces Of Ronald Radosh, AntiWar.com.
- Haunted by the Cold War, Part II, The Nation, October 8, 2001.
- A Fellow Traveling, The Nation, July 16, 2001.
- McCarthyism Debate between Ellen SchreckerEllen SchreckerEllen Wolf Schrecker, Ph.D. is a professor of American history at Yeshiva University. She is currently teaching and has received the Frederick Ewen Academic Freedom Fellowship at the Tamiment Library at NYU....
and Ronald Radosh.