Walt Whitman Rostow showing President Lyndon B. Johnson a model of the Khe Sanh area, 1968

Walt Whitman Rostow, October 7th, 1968

Walt Whitman Rostow (also known as Walt Rostow or W. The Battle of Khe Sanh, or Operation Scotland, Operation Pegasus, was conducted in northwestern Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam W. Rostow) (October 7, 1916 – February 13, 2003) was an American economist and political theorist who served as Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An economist is an expert in the Social science of Economics. The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Adviser (abbreviated NSA, or sometimes ANSA The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by

Prominent for his role in the shaping of American policy in Southeast Asia during the 1960s, he was a staunch opponent of communism, and was noted for a belief in the efficacy of capitalism and free enterprise. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Free enterprise may refer to Free enterprise system or Free enterprise economy, another term for Capitalism Free Rostow served as a major adviser on national security affairs under the John F. Kennedy and Johnson administrations. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of He supported American military involvement in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia In his later years he taught at Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin with his wife, Elspeth Rostow, who would later become dean of the school. The Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs' mission is to develop leaders and ideas that will help the nation and the international community address critical public policy Elspeth Rostow ( October 20 1917 &ndash December 10 2007) was born as Elspeth Vaughan Davies in Manhattan. He wrote extensively in defense of free enterprise economics, particularly in developing nations. Rostow was famous especially for writing a book The Stages of Economic Growth: A non-communist manifesto (1960) which became a classic text in several fields of social sciences.

His older brother, who also held a number of high government foreign policy posts, was Eugene V. Rostow. Eugene V (Victor Debs Rostow ( August 25, 1913 &ndash November 25, 2002) influential legal scholar and public servant was Dean of Yale

Early life

Walt Rostow was born in New York City to a Russian Jewish immigrant family. The City of New York His name is a reference to Walt Whitman. Walter Whitman (May 31 1819 &ndash March 26 1892 was an American poet, Essayist journalist, and humanist. Rostow attended Yale University, graduating at age 19 and completing Ph.D. dissertation in 1940. "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. He also won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Balliol College, Oxford. Rhodes Scholarship Rhodes scholar redirects here Rhodes Scholar redirects here Rhodes scholars Balliol College (ˈbeɪlɪəl founded in 1263 is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the In 1936, during the Edward VIII abdication crisis, he assisted the broadcaster Alistair Cooke, who reported on the events for the NBC radio network. The Edward VIII abdication crisis occurred in the British Empire in 1936 when the desire of King-Emperor Edward VIII to marry his mistress Wallis Alistair Cooke should not be confused with Alastair Cook, English cricketer The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's After completing his education he started teaching economics at Columbia University. Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League.

Professional and academic career

During World War II he served in the Office of Strategic Services under William Joseph Donovan. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Office of Strategic Services ( OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. "Wild Bill Donovan" redirects here For the Baseball Pitcher and manager see William Edward Donovan. Among other tasks, he participated in selecting targets for U. S. bombardment. Rostow became Assistant Chief of the German-Austrian Economic Division in the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C., immediately after the war. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D From 1946 to 1947, he returned to Oxford to teach as the Harmsworth Professor of American History. Rostow became the Assistant to the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe in 1947, and was involved in the development of the Marshall Plan. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE or ECE was established in 1947 to encourage economic cooperation among its member States The Marshall Plan (from its enactment officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger

He spent a year in 1949 at Cambridge University as the Pitt Professor of American History. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the Rostow was Professor of Economic History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1950 to 1961 and a staff member of the Center for International Studies, MIT, from 1951 to 1961. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January In 1958, he became a speechwriter for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general

Government service

In 1960 he joined the Kennedy campaign, helping to coin such memorable slogans as "Let's get this country moving again," "The New Frontier," and "The Development Decade. " His ability to couch academic theories in terms accessible to the layman was always his strongest suit.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rostow as Deputy Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, reporting to McGeorge Bundy. The Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the Deputy National Security Advisor, is a member of the Executive Office of McGeorge "Mac" Bundy ( March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was United States National Security Advisor to Presidents Late in 1961, he was then appointed as counselor of the Department of State and Chairman of the Policy Planning Council, Department of State. The Director of Policy Planning is the United States Department of State official in charge of the Department's internal think tank the Policy Planning Staff. The Policy Planning Staff (sometimes referred to as the Policy Planning Council or by its inhouse acronym "S/P" is the chief strategic arm of the U Rostow was appointed by Johnson in May 1964 to be U. S. Member of the Inter-American Committee on the Alliance for Progress (CIAP).

In early 1966, he was named special Assistant for National Security Affairs (the post now known as National Security Advisor) where he was a main figure in developing the government's policy in the Vietnam War, and where he remained until February 1969. The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Adviser (abbreviated NSA, or sometimes ANSA His pro-war and pro-free-enterprise views made him highly unpopular in the social sciences sector of the American academia that was mostly Keynesian at the time. In Economics Keynesian economics (ˈkeɪnziən also Keynesianism and Keynesian Theory) is based on the ideas of twentieth-century British economist Because of his hawkish stance, Rostow was a pariah in many academic quarters, and was not invited back to MIT after his government service. Instead he landed at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, where he served as the Rex G. The Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs' mission is to develop leaders and ideas that will help the nation and the international community address critical public policy Baker Jr. Professor Emeritus of Political Economy. The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies Political economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and government He continued to teach history and economics until his death in 2003 at the age of 86.

Contribution to economics

Rostow developed the Rostovian take-off model of economic growth, one of the major historical models of economic growth. The Rostovian take-off model (also called "Rostow's Stages of Growth" is one of the major historical models of Economic growth. The model argues that economic modernization occurs in five basic stages of varying length - traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity, and high mass consumption. This became one of the important concepts in the theory of modernization in the social evolutionism. Sociocultural evolution(ism is an umbrella term for theories of cultural evolution and Social evolution, describing how Cultures and societies Sociocultural evolution(ism is an umbrella term for theories of cultural evolution and Social evolution, describing how Cultures and societies He received the Order of the British Empire (1945), the Legion of Merit (1945), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1969). The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a decoration bestowed by the President of the United States and is along with the equivalent Congressional Gold Medal bestowed

Bibliography

• "Investment and the Great Depression", 1938, Econ History Review
• Essays on the British Economy of the Nineteenth Century, 1948.
• "The Terms of Trade in Theory and Practice", 1950, Econ History Review
• "The Historical Analysis of Terms of Trade", 1951, Econ History Review
• The Process of Economic Growth, 1952.
• The Dynamics of Soviet Society (with others), Norton and Co. 1953, slight update Anchor edition 1954.
• "Trends in the Allocation of Resources in Secular Growth", 1955, in Dupriez, editor, Economic Progress
• An American Policy in Asia, with R. W. Hatch, 1955.
• "The Take-Off into Self-Sustained Growth", 1956, EJ
• A Proposal: Key to an effective foreign policy, with M. Millikan, 1957.
• "The Stages of Economic Growth", 1959, Econ History Review
• The Stages of Economic Growth: A non-communist manifesto, 1960.
• Politics and the Stages of Growth, 1971.
• How it All Began: Origins of the modern economy, 1975.
• The World Economy: History and prospect, 1978.
• Why the Poor Get Richer and the Rich Slow Down: Essays in the Marshallian long period, 1980.
• Theorists of Economic Growth from David Hume to the Present, 1990.
• The Great Population Spike and After, 1998

See also

• The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam
• Rostovian take-off model

External links

• Rostow's obituary
• Hodgson, Godfrey. The Best and the Brightest ( 1972) is an account by journalist David Halberstam of the origins of the Vietnam War. David Halberstam ( April 10 1934 – April 23 2007) was an American Pulitzer Prize -winning Journalist The Rostovian take-off model (also called "Rostow's Stages of Growth" is one of the major historical models of Economic growth. "Walt Rostow: Obituary", in The Guardian, February 17, 2003.
• "Walt Rostow: Obituary", in The Times, February 19, 2003.
• In Memoriam, The University of Texas at Austin.