Ronald Radosh ( ; born 1937) is an American
social conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...
writer, professor, historian, and former
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
. As he described in his memoirs, Radosh was, like his
Ashkenazi Jew
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
ish parents, a member of the
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
until the exposure of the truth about
Stalinism
Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...
began during the
Khrushchev Thaw
The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...
. He later became an activist in the
New Left
The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...
against the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.
Radosh turned his attention in the late 1970s to
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (born Greenglass; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were an American married couple who were convicted of First Chief Directorate, spying for the Soviet Union, including ...
, whom he had believed for decades to have been the innocent victims of
judicial murder
Judicial murder is the intentional and premeditated killing of an innocent person by means of capital punishment; therefore, it is a subset of wrongful execution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' describes it as "death inflicted by process of law ...
by a
kangaroo court
Kangaroo court is an informal pejorative term for a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc. A kangaroo court ma ...
. After studying declassified
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
documents obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request:
* Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966
* F ...
and interviewing their friends and associates, Radosh came to the conclusion that the Rosenbergs had in fact committed
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...
for the Soviet
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
during the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada.
From 1942 to 1946, the ...
and the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, the crime for which they were both executed. When Radosh published his conclusions, despite what he considered to be his efforts to be balanced and objective, the American New Left was outraged.
Radosh describes his subsequent experience, which he termed at the time "Left-Wing
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
", as the moment when his political views began to shift towards
neoconservatism
Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...
, and states that his subsequent research as a historian has continued to make him very critical of both Marxism and Communism.
Currently employed by the
Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation.
Kahn ...
, Radosh has also published an expose about the covert activities of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
and the
Red Terror
The Red Terror () was a campaign of political repression and Mass killing, executions in Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia which was carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police ...
during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
.
His most recent book, about the foundation of the
State of Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, was co-authored with his second wife, Allis Radosh: ''A Safe Haven:
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
and the Founding of Israel'' was published by
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
in 2009.
The Radoshes are currently writing a book about the presidency of
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...
, to be published by
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
.
Early life
Radosh was born in the
Lower East Side of Manhattan and raised in
Washington Heights. His parents, Reuben Radosh and Ida Kreichman, were Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
. A self-described
red diaper baby who was, "born on the First of May", Radosh has stated that his earliest memory is of being taken to a
May Day
May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...
parade in
Union Square. His maternal uncle, Irving Keith (formerly Irving Kreichman), had trained at the
International Lenin School in Moscow and then travelled to the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...
to fight as a Commissar in the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
The XV International Brigade was one of the International Brigades formed to fight for the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.
History
The XVth Brigade mustered at Albacete in January 1937. It consisted of English-speaking volunte ...
during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. Irving Keith, who was
killed in action
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
during the spring 1938 retreat, was revered as an
anti-fascist
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
martyr by the Radosh family and his nephew grew up regularly re-reading his letters. It was only decades later that Radosh became very critical of his uncle's many written defenses of the ongoing
Red Terror
The Red Terror () was a campaign of political repression and Mass killing, executions in Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia which was carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police ...
by the
Servicio de Información Militar throughout the
Spanish Republican Army
The Spanish Republican Army () was the main branch of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939.
It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la República'' ...
, by simply repeating the
conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
* ...
that all members of the
anti-Stalinist Left
The anti-Stalinist left encompasses various kinds of Left-wing politics, left-wing political movements that oppose Joseph Stalin, Stalinism, neo-Stalinism and the History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), system of governance that Stalin impleme ...
were a crypto-fascist "
rearguard
A rearguard or rear security is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or Withdrawal (military), withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as Line of c ...
" who sought to "create divisions in the Popular Front".
In the 1940s and the 1950s, Radosh attended the
Little Red School House
The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, is a school in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by Elisabeth Irwin in 1921 as the Little Red School House and is one of the city's first progressive ...
and
Elisabeth Irwin High School, both of which were private schools for children from the
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
families. He also attended the communist-run Camp Woodland for Children in the
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...
. His memoirs vividly describe school-day encounters with
Mary Travers
Mary Allin Travers (November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009) was an American singer who found fame as a member of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, along with Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey. Travers grew up amid the burgeoning folk sce ...
,
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...
, and
Peter Seeger. Like almost everyone else he knew, Radosh was involved in protesting against American involvement in the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
and also believed in
William A. Reuben's "first conspiracy theory ... that the U.S. Government had framed
the Rosenbergs and forced the key government witness,
Harry Gold, to
lie on the witness stand".
On June 19, 1953, Radosh joined
Howard Fast
Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.
Biography Early life
Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...
and
Civil Rights Congress
The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was a United States civil rights organization, formed in 1946 at a national conference for radicals and disbanded in 1956. It succeeded the International Labor Defense, the National Federation for Constitutional L ...
leader
William L. Patterson in a mass demonstration in
Union Square against the imminent execution of
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (born Greenglass; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were an American married couple who were convicted of First Chief Directorate, spying for the Soviet Union, including ...
. When Fast announced that the Rosenbergs were being led into the execution chamber, Radosh recalls that a wail went through the crowd and the Party's folk singers began singing, ''
Go Down Moses
"Go Down Moses" is an African American spiritual that describes the Hebrew Exodus, specifically drawing from the Book of Exodus 5:1, in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. "And the LORD spo ...
''. The following morning, Radosh attended the Rosenbergs' subsequent secular funeral in full
Labor Youth League regalia. He later recalled, "That moment would remain etched in my memory, forever the symbol of what awaited good, progressive Jews who dared to stand up for their beliefs. It would take almost forty years for me to face up to the real meaning of the Rosenberg case for America."
University education
Radosh began attending the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
in the fall of 1955. He has said that his desire at the time was both to study history, which
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
considered queen of the sciences, and to become a leader of America's communists. Despite being raised to always defend the actions of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, Radosh developed a close friendship with Professor
George Mosse, a Jewish refugee from
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and member of the
anti-Stalinist Left
The anti-Stalinist left encompasses various kinds of Left-wing politics, left-wing political movements that oppose Joseph Stalin, Stalinism, neo-Stalinism and the History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), system of governance that Stalin impleme ...
, which Radosh had been raised to detest. In 1959, Radosh arrived at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
and intended to work towards his
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
. While
Iowa City
Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...
, "boasted one small, dilapidated movie theatre, many bars,
ndfew restaurants", in Radosh's own words, "the town also had its
bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers.
* Bohemian style, a ...
and political fringe". For example, there was already one off-campus "Greenwich Village-style coffee shop" where Radosh regularly met to play folk music with
Robert Mezey,
Sol Stern, and other fellow radicals with whom he helped found the "Iowa Socialist Discussion Club."
In September 1961, the Radosh family returned to Madison. Radosh had received his masters as a historian, and began working towards his doctorate under
William Appleman Williams
William Appleman Williams (June 12, 1921 – March 5, 1990) was one of the 20th century's most prominent revisionist historians of American diplomacy. He achieved the height of his influence while on the faculty of the department of history at t ...
, one of the founders of the
Wisconsin School of diplomatic history, who further drew his young protege into the New Left. Meanwhile, Ronald and Alice Radosh twice hosted, at their studio apartment along State Street in Madison, a young and unknown guitar playing folk singer, who deliberately dressed like and emulated
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...
and whose name was
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
. Dylan once told Radosh, "I'm going to be as big a star as
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
... I'll play the same and even bigger arenas. I know it." Radosh and Dylan performed together at "regular, impromptu hootenanny sessions in a small new cafe on State Street, a place modeled after Greenwich Village hangouts". Radosh later recalled, "In the years to come, I often wished someone had been running a tape recorder at these regular sessions."
Despite being raised as a
red diaper baby by
fellow traveler
A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...
s, Radosh's growing fondness during the early 1960s for the writings of
Trotskyist
Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...
historian
Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher (; 3 April 1907 – 19 August 1967) was a Polish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom before the outbreak of World War II. He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph S ...
enraged senior members of the American Communist Party in Madison. According to Radosh, Deutscher's writings told the truth about
Stalinism
Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...
and the
Great Purge
The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
, without completely rejecting
Marxist-Leninism or the
October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
. The American Communist Party in Madison's attempts to coerce and intimidate Radosh back into the
party line backfired and instead became the major factor in his departure. The last straw came when "the party sent it's top youth organizer, Danny Rubin, to stay with us". Upon seeing multiple Deutscher's books on Radosh's bookshelf, Rubin "threw a fit", and screamed, "As a good Communist, you cannot read this junk! Get rid of it!" Rubin then pulled out a copy of ''
World Marxist Review'' and screamed, "This is what you ''should'' be reading, not Trotskyite junk!" Despite still being a senior leader of Madison's
Labor Youth League, Radosh broke with the Soviet-backed Communist Party USA and continued to become a founding father of the American New Left.
Vietnam War
In 1963, Radosh returned to New York City with his wife and children. After teaching at two community colleges in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, Radosh joined the New York chapter of the
Committee to Stop the War in Vietnam. He recalled:
When Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian religious minister, minister, political activist, and perennial candidate for president. He achieved fame as a socialism, socialist and pacifism, pacifis ...
died in 1968, 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 class. 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 terrorism 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 War, its ideology and ethics and had decided to enlist in fighting its battles" on the wrong—the anti-communist—side.
Soon afterward, Radosh joined the New York chapter of
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships a ...
. In his book ''Prophets on the Right'', completed in 1974, Radosh referred to himself as both "an advocate of a socialist solution to America's domestic crisis" and "a radical historian." The book profiles several historical conservative or far-right
isolationists, "
critics of American globalism", men who were "outside the consensus, or the mainstream ...
ndregarded as subversive of the existing order." Radosh's stated aim in writing the book was to "move us... to think carefully about alternative possibilities" to "our current predicament," which was a clear reference to the ongoing
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. In 1976, Radosh was a "founding sponsor" of
James Weinstein's magazine ''
In These Times In These Times may refer to:
*In These Times (magazine), ''In These Times'' (magazine), an American monthly magazine of news and opinion
*In These Times (Peter, Paul, and Mary album), ''In These Times'' (Peter, Paul, and Mary album), a 2004 album b ...
''.
Second thoughts
While researching his 1978 article ''The Rosenberg File'' and expanding it into a 1983 book of the same name, Radosh was forced to conclude that Julius Rosenberg had been guilty of both treason and
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...
, and that Ethel was aware of his activities. At the same time, Radosh and his two respective coauthors also exposed and condemned multiple acts of
prosecutorial misconduct
In jurisprudence, prosecutorial misconduct or prosecutorial overreach is "an illegal act or failing to act, on the part of a prosecutor, especially an attempt to sway the jury to wrongly convict a defendant or to impose a harsher than appropria ...
during the trial by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Roy Cohn. Radosh similarly condemned multiple violations of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
and the
Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
during the era of
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
. Radosh also learned that the U.S. Department of Justice had gone for the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
at the trial of the Rosenbergs only because they wanted Julius Rosenberg to cooperate with investigators and testify as a prosecution witness against other, even more damaging Soviet spies. The Rosenbergs' refusal of all offers to cooperate in return for a more lenient sentence was accordingly a great disappointment to both federal prosecutors and to the
U.S. Intelligence Community.
Despite his claims of being unbiased and evenhanded as a historian, Radosh found himself subjected to both
ostracism
Ostracism (, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often us ...
and
character assassination
Character assassination (CA) is a deliberate and sustained effort to damage the reputation or credibility of an individual. The term ''character assassination'' became popular around 1930. This concept, as a subject of scholarly study, was origi ...
by the American New Left in an effort to discredit the conclusions in his book. One friend told him, "The facts are irrelevant, we need the Rosenbergs as heroes." As a result of their 1983 book and the subsequent revelations in the Vassiliev papers as well as decrypted Soviet intelligence communications from the era through the
Venona project
The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service and later absorbed by the National Security Agency (NSA), that ran from February 1, 1943, u ...
, a consensus has emerged that rather than having been framed by the FBI, both of the Rosenbergs ''had'' in fact been very valuable NKVD spies, and that Julius Rosenberg was both the
handler and agent recruiter whose active network of
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole"
* Golden mole, southern African mammals
* Marsupial mole
Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...
s and couriers stole highly significant military and nuclear secrets for the Soviet Union during both
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. A second edition of ''The Rosenberg File'' was published by
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
Press in 1997 and incorporated newly obtained evidence, which further proved the Rosenberg's guilt, that Radosh obtained from the former KGB archives after the
collapse of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
.
Radosh's memoirs, published in 2001 as ''Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left, and the Leftover Left'', discussed the various reasons for his disillusionment with Marxist solutions and embrace of
American patriotism and
social conservatism
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on Tradition#In political and religious discourse, traditional social structures over Cultural pluralism, social pluralism. Social conservatives ...
, including the vicious blacklash over his exposure of the Rosenbergs and learning of both widespread
human rights abuses
Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...
and the abuse of psychiatry by
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
, and his fellow tourists' efforts to excuse those abuses, during a mid-1970s trip to Cuba. According to Radosh, the last straw came when he visited refugee camps in Central America during the 1980s and listened to what he described as horrifying accounts of the tyranny experienced by the many
Nicaraguan people
Nicaraguans (; also called ''Nicas'') are people inhabiting in, originating or having significant heritage from Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans live in Nicaragua, although there is also a significant Nicaraguan diaspora, particularly in Costa Rica a ...
who had fled from the
Sandinistas.
The Rosenberg's co-defendant
Morton Sobell's 2008 interview with Sam Roberts of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' had him admit his own guilt and that of Julius Rosenberg after years of proclaiming his innocence, which further vindicated Radosh's once controversial thesis in ''The Rosenberg File''. A year later, Radosh and Steven Usdin also interviewed Sobell. Writing in ''
The Weekly Standard
''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis, and commentary that was published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' was described as a ...
'', Radosh outlined the dimensions of the classified material that Sobell had passed to the Soviet KGB as part of the Rosenberg
spy ring.
Radosh's writings have appeared in ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'', ''
The Weekly Standard
''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis, and commentary that was published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' was described as a ...
'', ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'', the blog ''
FrontPage Magazine'', and many other newspapers and magazines. He was a faculty member at
Queensborough Community College
Queensborough Community College (QCC) is a Public college, public community college in New York City. One of seven community colleges within the City University of New York (CUNY) system, Queensborough enrolls more than 12,000 attending studen ...
and the
Graduate Center of the City University of New York
The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...
. Radosh is now an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., and a professor emeritus of history at the
City University of New York
The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
(CUNY).
Family
Radosh married Alice Schweig in the summer of 1959. He recalls, "Our wedding was on Labor Day 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, who has a PhD in American History and has co-authored two books with him. The couple reside in
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...
.
Controversy
On 7 August 2014, Radosh reviewed
Diana West's ''
American Betrayal'' in ''FrontPage Magazine''. West had alleged that infiltration of the
United States federal government
The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States.
The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...
by Stalinist
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole"
* Golden mole, southern African mammals
* Marsupial mole
Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...
s and
fellow traveler
A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...
s had significantly altered
Western Allies
Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It primarily refers to the leading Anglo-American Allied powers, namely the United States and the United Kingdom, although the term has also be ...
and policies during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
to favor the Soviet Union. Radosh criticized West's limited knowledge of the scholarly literature and called her thesis a "
yellow journalism
In journalism, yellow journalism and the yellow press are American newspapers that use eye-catching headlines and sensationalized exaggerations for increased sales. This term is chiefly used in American English, whereas in the United Kingdom, ...
conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
* ...
".
West published a follow-up book focusing on the attack on her by Radosh and others. The journal ''
The New Criterion
''The New Criterion'' is a New York–based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Roger Kimball (editor and publisher) and James Panero (executive editor). It has sections for criticism of poetry ...
'' had a full-fledged dialogue about the issues that arose because of his critique of West.
Works
Books
''American Labor and United States Foreign Policy'' New York:
Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
, 1969.
*''Debs''. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall
Prentice Hall was a major American educational publisher. It published print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market. It was an independent company throughout the bulk of the twentieth century. In its last few years it ...
, 1971.
''A New History of Leviathan: Essays on the American Corporate State'' Edited with
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School,Ronald Hamowy, ed., 2008, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism', Cato Institute, Sage, , p. 62: "a leading economist of the Austri ...
. New York:
E. P. Dutton
E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group.
Creator
Edward Payson Dutton (January 1, ...
, 1972.
''Prophets On The Right: Profiles of Conservative Critics of American Globalism'' New York:
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
, 1975.
*''The New Cuba: Paradoxes and Potentials''. New York: Morrow, 1976.
''The Rosenberg File: A Search for Truth'' Co-authored with Joyce Milton. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools.
The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of ...
, 1983; Reissued with new introduction: New Haven:
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
, 1993.
''Divided They Fell: The Demise of the Democratic Party, 1964–1996'' New York:
Free Press, 1996.
*''The Amerasia Spy Case: Prelude to McCarthyism''. Co-authored with
Harvey Klehr
Harvey Elliott Klehr (born December 25, 1945) is a professor of politics and history at Emory University. Klehr is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist movement, and on Soviet espionage in America (many written jointly with ...
.
University of North Carolina Press
The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a not-for-profit university press associated with the University of North Carolina. It was the first university press founded in the southern United States. It is a mem ...
, 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''Co-authored with
Mary R. Habeck and Grigorii Nikolaevich Sevostianov. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
*
Red Star Over Hollywood: The Film Colony's Long Romance With The Left'. Co-authored with Allis Radosh. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2005.
''A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel'' Co-authored with Allis Radosh. New York:
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, 2009.
Articles
"John Spargo and Wilson's Russian Policy, 1920."''
Journal of American History
''The Journal of American History'' is the quarterly official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the o ...
'', volume 52, number 3 (December 1965), pages 548–565. .
"Were the Rosenbergs Framed?"''
New York Review of Books
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
'' (July 21, 1983).
*
"Books in Review. The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression."''
First Things
''First Things'' (''FT'') is a journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society", focusing on theology, liturgy, history of religion, church history, culture, education, society, politics, literat ...
'' (Feb. 2000).
"The Sandbagging of Robert 'KC' Johnson."''
New York Sun
''The New York Sun'' is an American conservative news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) online-only publisher of political and economic opinion pieces, as we ...
''.
"Why Conservatives Are So Upset with Thomas Woods's Politically Incorrect History Book."''
History News Network''.
"The Cuba Conundrum: Who Is Attacking Our Diplomats and Spies in Cuba?"''
Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation.
Kahn ...
'' (October 4, 2017).
Book reviews
"Democracy and the Formation of Foreign Policy: The Case of F.D.R. and America's Entrance Into World War II."Review of ''F.D.R.'s Undeclared War, 1939 to 1941'' by T. R. Fehrenbach.
''Left & Right'', volume 3, number 3 (Spring/Autumn 1967) pages 31–38.
Contributions
"Preface." ''As We Go Marching'' by
John T. Flynn
John Thomas Flynn (October 25, 1882 – April 13, 1964) was an American journalist best known for his opposition to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and to American entry into World War II. In September 1940, Flynn helped establish the America Fi ...
. New York: Free Life Editions, 1973.
References
External links
*
Articlesat
The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...
Articlesat
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
Articlesat
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...
Ronald Radoshat the
Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation.
Kahn ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radosh, Ronald
1937 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
CUNY Graduate Center faculty
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American historians of espionage
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American political writers
Cold War history of the United States
Former Marxists
FrontPage Magazine people
Historians of communism
Historians of the United States
Hudson Institute
Jewish American historians
National Review people
New Left
Writers from Martinsburg, West Virginia
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Writers from New York City
Date of birth missing (living people)
American male non-fiction writers
Little Red School House alumni
Historians from New York (state)
Queensborough Community College faculty