Changes

==Academic Career==

==Academic Career==

For most of his academic career intimately associated with leftist causes, e.g., an intellectual defense of the Rosenbergs, initial support for the [[FMLN]] and opposition to the [[Contras]], etc., he gradually evolved into a neoconservative polemicist in the mold of his colleagues, [[David Horowitz (conservative writer)|David Horowitz]] and [[Peter Collier (political author)|Peter Collier]].  

During the [[1950s]], Radosh attended the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]], where he engaged in jam sessions with a young [[Bob Dylan]]. During the [[Khurshchev thaw]], he broke with the Soviet-backed Party of his parents' generation and became a founding father of the [[New Left]]. A former participant in campus radicalism during the 1960s, he recalls in his memoirs that many otherwise Left-Wing professors opposed any effort to politicize the universities, arguing in favor of keeping them neutral as places of learning and inquiry.

Two pivotal moments that solidified this change of philosophy were his decision to collaborate with [[Joyce Milton]] on an examination of the Rosenberg files—which led him to conclude that Julius Rosenberg was indeed guilty of the espionage charges he would ultimately be convicted of, with his wife potentially being an important accomplice in this scheme—and a visit to Central America during the 1980s. This was done because he was considering writing a piece for ''[[The New Republic]]'', which he had intended as a balanced portrait of the government led by [[Daniel Ortega]] and the [[Sandinistas]].  

Although he has admitted to having had doubts about aspects of the movement for a long time, his decision to break with the left was sparked by his research into Rosenberg case. In 1978, Professor Radosh began conducting research into [[FBI]] files obtained under the [[Freedom of Information Act]]. Although he had originally intended to prove the innocence of [[Julius Rosenberg]] and his wife Ethel, Professor Radosh was eventually convinced of their mutual guilt.  

However, after examining the composition of the government—and its policies—he came to the conclusion that it was infiltrated by [[Stalinist]]s, and was not moving in a democratic direction.

After the publication of his research and conclusions in 1979, Professor Radosh was ostracized by his former comrades and attacked in print. He recalls how a longtime friend told him, "The facts are irrelevant. We need the Rosenbergs as heroes."<ref> Ronald Radosh, "Commies," page 157.</ref>

 

These two events—which Radosh describes as being crucial in the evolution of his political philosophy—led him to be ostracized from his former allies, and for both sides to begin a reciprocal-and often vituperative-public war of words that continues to this day.  

 

Radosh is the father of journalist [[Daniel Radosh]].

==Current Status==

==Current Status==