Early Life
Walt Rostow was born in New York City to a Russian Jewish immigrant family. His parents, Victor and Lillian Rostow, were active socialists and their three sons, Eugene Victor Debs Rostow, Ralph Waldo Emerson Rostow and Walt Whitman Rostow, were named after Eugene V. Debs, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walt Whitman. Rostow entered Yale University at age 15 on a full scholarship, graduated at 19, and completed his Ph.D. there in 1940. He also won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Balliol College, Oxford, where he completed a B.Litt. degree. In 1936, during the Edward VIII abdication crisis, he assisted the broadcaster Alistair Cooke, who reported on the events for the NBC radio network. After completing his education he started teaching economics at Columbia University.
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