Rostow, Eugene Victor Debs, 1913–2002, U.S. lawyer, educator, and government official, brother of Walt Whitman Rostow, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1938, Rostow joined the Yale law school faculty and became (1944–84) full professor of law. As dean of the law school (1955–65), he launched a major curricular revision intended to emphasize the relationship of law to other academic disciplines and the workings of society. Rostow served (1966–69) as undersecretary of state for political affairs under President Lyndon B. Johnson, where he was an articulate defender of the government's Vietnam policy. Under President Ronald Reagan he was (1981–83) the director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the highest ranking Democrat to serve in the administration. Rostow was the author of numerous articles and books including Planning for Freedom (1959), Law, Power and the Pursuit of Peace (1968), Peace in the Balance (1972), Toward Managed Peace (1993).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies
