Editing David Horowitz

{{Short description|American conservative writer and activist (1939–2025)}}
{{Other people|David Horowitz}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox writer
| name        = David Horowitz
| image       = David Horowitz by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| caption     = Horowitz in 2011
| birth_name  = David Joel Horowitz
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1939|01|10}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2025|04|29|1939|01|10}}
| death_place = [[Colorado]], U.S.
| occupation  = [[Conservatism in the United States|Conservative]] activist and writer
| education   = [[Columbia University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[University of California, Berkeley]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Elissa Krauthamer|1959|1978|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Sam Moorman|1984|1985|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Shay Marlowe|1990|1995|end=div}}
* {{marriage|April Mullvain|1998}}}}
| children    = 4, including [[Ben Horowitz|Ben]]
}}

'''David Joel Horowitz''' (January 10, 1939 – April 29, 2025) was an American [[conservatism in the United States|conservative]] writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the [[David Horowitz Freedom Center]] (DHFC); editor of the Center's website ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]''; and director of [[Discover the Networks]], a website that tracks individuals and groups on the [[left-wing politics|political left]]. Horowitz also founded the organization [[Students for Academic Freedom]].

Horowitz wrote several books with author [[Peter Collier (writer)|Peter Collier]], including four on prominent 20th-century American families. He and Collier collaborated on books about cultural criticism. Horowitz worked as a columnist for ''[[Salon.com|Salon]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-01-03 |title=Salon.com News {{!}} Who's afraid of the big, bad Horowitz? |url=http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2001/03/09/horowitz/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103215150/http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2001/03/09/horowitz/ |archive-date=January 3, 2007}}</ref>

From 1956 to 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the [[New Left]]. He later rejected [[Progressivism|progressive]] ideas and became a defender of [[neoconservatism]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/may/30/socialsciences.highereducation|title=Interview: neo-conservative, David Horowitz|last=Campbell|first=Duncan|date=2001-05-30|work=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-07|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Horowitz recounted his ideological journey in a series of retrospective books, culminating with his 1996 memoir ''Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey''.

==Early life and education==
Born on January 10, 1939 in the [[Forest Hills, Queens|Forest Hills]] neighborhood of [[Queens]], a [[Boroughs of New York City|borough of New York City]],{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=25}}<ref name=Jacobson>{{citation|last=Jacobson|first=Jennifer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070501091430/http://chronicle.com/weekly/v51/i35/35a00801.htm|archive-date=May 1, 2007|title=What Makes David Run|work=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]|volume=51|issue=35|date=May 6, 2005|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/What-Makes-David-Run/31473|pages=A9–A11|access-date=August 21, 2018|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Horowitz was the son of Jewish high school teachers Phil and Blanche Horowitz. His father taught [[English studies|English]] and his mother taught [[Shorthand|stenography]].{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=25}} His mother's family emigrated from [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]] in the mid-19th century, and his father's family left Russia in 1905 during a time of [[Pogroms in the Russian Empire|anti-Jewish pogroms]]. Horowitz's paternal grandfather lived in [[Mazyr|Mozir]], a city in modern [[Belarus]], prior to leaving for the U.S.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|pp=7–12}} In 1940, the family moved to the [[Long Island City]] section of Queens.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=25}}

During years of labor organizing and the [[Great Depression]], Phil and Blanche Horowitz were long-standing members of the [[Communist Party of the United States of America]] and strong supporters of [[Joseph Stalin]]. They left the party after [[Nikita Khrushchev]] published his report in 1956 about Stalin's crimes and his terrorism against the Soviet population.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|pp=39–40}}{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=83–84}}

Horowitz received a Bachelor of Arts from [[Columbia University]] in 1959, majoring in English, and a master's degree in English literature at [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1961.<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=ZzQVpPvlVMcC}}|title=American Dissidents: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Subversives, and Prisoners of Conscience|last=Gay|first=Kathlyn|date=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-764-2|language=en|page=303}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Chris A. |date=March 26, 2019 |title=The Strange Case of Ex-Radical David Horowitz |url=https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/spring-2019/strange-case-of-ex-radical-david-horowitz/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408144812/https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/spring-2019/strange-case-of-ex-radical-david-horowitz/ |archive-date=April 8, 2019 |magazine=[[California Magazine]] |access-date=2 May 2025}}</ref>

==Career==
=== New Left ===
After completing his graduate degree, Horowitz lived in London during the mid-1960s and worked for the [[Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creators.com/opinion/alexander-cockburn/it-s-islamo-fascism-awareness-week-coming-to-a-campus-near-you.html|title=It's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, Coming to a Campus Near You!|first=Alexander|last=Cockburn|author-link=Alexander Cockburn|date=October 27, 2007|publisher=creators.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102084415/http://www.creators.com/opinion/alexander-cockburn/it-s-islamo-fascism-awareness-week-coming-to-a-campus-near-you.html|archive-date=January 2, 2016|df=mdy}} originally published in ''Counterpunch'' October 27, 2007</ref><ref name="nord1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/368222/witness-part-i-jay-nordlinger|author=Jay Nordlinger|author-link=Jay Nordlinger|newspaper=National Review Online|title=A Witness, Part I: The meaning of David Horowitz|date=January 14, 2014}}</ref> He identified as a [[Marxism|Marxist]] intellectual.

In 1966, [[Ralph Schoenman]] persuaded [[Bertrand Russell]] to convene his [[Russell Tribunal|war crimes tribunal]] to judge United States involvement in the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=146–53}} Horowitz would write three decades later that he had political reservations about the tribunal and did not take part. He described the tribunal's judges as formidable, world-famous and radical. They included [[Isaac Deutscher]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Stokely Carmichael]], [[Simone de Beauvoir]], [[Vladimir Dedijer]] and [[James Baldwin]].{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=147–53}} In January 1966, Horowitz, along with members of the Trotskyist International Marxist Group, formed the [[Vietnam Solidarity Campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/britain-at-war-over-vietnam/|title = Britain at war over Vietnam}}</ref> The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign organized a series of protests in London against British support for the [[Vietnam War]].

While in London, Horowitz became a close friend of Deutscher, and wrote a biography of him.<ref name="WSarchive">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-155477123.html|title=Confronting the enemy within|last=Soupcoff|first=Marni|date=November 20, 2006|publisher=Western Standard|access-date=January 8, 2010}}</ref><ref>''Isaac Deutscher: The Man and His Work.'' London: Macdonald, 1971.</ref> Horowitz wrote ''The Free World Colossus: A Critique of American Foreign Policy in the Cold War''. In January 1968, Horowitz returned to the United States, where he became co-editor of the New Left magazine ''[[Ramparts (magazine)|Ramparts]]'', settling in northern California.<ref name="nord1" />

During the early 1970s, Horowitz developed a close friendship with [[Huey P. Newton]], founder of the [[Black Panther Party]]. Horowitz later portrayed Newton as equal parts gangster, terrorist, intellectual and media celebrity.<ref name="nord1" /> As part of their work together, Horowitz helped raise money for, and assisted the Panthers with, the running of a school for poor children in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]]. He recommended that Newton hire [[Murder of Betty Van Patter|Betty Van Patter]] as bookkeeper; she was then working for ''Ramparts''. In December 1974, Van Patter's  battered, decomposed body was found on a beach in [[San Francisco Bay]]; she had been murdered. It is widely believed that the Panthers were responsible for her murder, a belief also held by Horowitz.<ref name="nord1" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/print/article/david-horowitzs-long-march|title=David Horowitz's Long March|date=15 June 2000|publisher=Thenation.com|access-date=April 23, 2013|last1=Sherman|first1=Scott}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=recDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT28 |title=The Strange Journey of David Horowitz |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |last1=Browning |first1=Frank |date=May 1987 |pages=27–38}}</ref><ref>Pearson, Hugh (1994). The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America. Da Capo Press. p. 328. ISBN 0-201-48341-6.</ref><ref>"Left-leaving, left-leaning" Archived 2016-06-30 at the Wayback Machine, Christopher Hitchens, Los Angeles Times, November 16, 2003.</ref><ref>Kelley, Ken. September 15, 1989. "Huey Newton: I'll Never Forget". East Bay Express, Volume 11, No. 49. https://archive.org/details/Huey-Never-Forget-1989</ref>

In 1976, Horowitz was a "founding sponsor" of [[James Weinstein (author)|James Weinstein]]'s magazine ''[[In These Times (magazine)|In These Times]]''.<ref>
{{cite web|title=About|publisher=In These Times|url=http://inthesetimes.com/about|access-date=March 22, 2015}}</ref>

===Rightward evolution===
{{Conservatism US|activists}}
Following this period, Horowitz rejected [[Karl Marx|Marx]] and socialism, but kept quiet about his changing politics for nearly a decade.

In early 1985, Horowitz and Collier, who also became a political conservative, wrote an article for ''[[The Washington Post|The Washington Post Magazine]]'' titled "Lefties for [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]]", later retitled as "Goodbye to All That". The article explained their change of views and recent decision to vote for a second term for Republican President Ronald Reagan.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Horowitz, David|author2=Collier, Peter|title=Lefties for Reagan|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1985/03/17/lefties-for-reagan/c3d58778-8ec9-4463-9252-3a032e078d36/|website=Washington Post Magazine|pages=8–?|date=March 17, 1985}}</ref>{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=356–57}}<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=gGEJDAAAQBAJ|page=155}}|title=The Black Book of the American Left: The Collected Conservative Writings of David Horowitz|last=Horowitz|first=David|date=2016-04-05|publisher=Encounter Books|isbn=978-1-59403-870-9|pages=155|language=en}}</ref> In 1986, Horowitz published "Why I Am No Longer a Leftist" in ''[[The Village Voice]]''.<ref name="nord2">{{cite news|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/368496/witness-part-ii-jay-nordlinger|title=A Witness, Part II: The meaning of David Horowitz|author=Nordlinger, Jay|newspaper=National Review Online|date=January 15, 2014}}</ref>

In 1987, Horowitz co-hosted a "Second Thoughts Conference" in Washington, D.C., described by [[Sidney Blumenthal]] in ''The Washington Post'' as his "coming out" as a conservative.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Blumenthal |first1=Sidney |title=Thunder on the New Right {{!}} A conference where the converted don't quite reach their goal |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/19/thunder-on-the-new-right-a-conference-where-the-converted-dont-quite-reach-their-goal/d3d1f1fa-bc89-41fa-9c7f-3ae48e90b3f9/ |access-date=26 December 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=19 October 1987}}</ref>

{{external media
| width  = 210px
| float  = right
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do1R_-17zr4 David Horowitz delivers a speech to the Ashland University College Republicans at the Ashbrook Center on November 11, 1991.]
}}

In May 1989, Horowitz, [[Ronald Radosh]], and Collier attended a conference in [[Kraków]] calling for the end of Communism.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=388}} After marching with Polish dissidents in an anti-regime protest, Horowitz spoke about his changing thoughts and why he believed that socialism could not create their future. He said his dream was for the people of Poland to be free.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=391}}

In 1992, Horowitz and Collier founded ''[[David Horowitz Freedom Center#Heterodoxy magazine|Heterodoxy]],'' a monthly magazine focused on exposing what it described as excessive [[political correctness]] on United States college and university campuses. It was "meant to have the feel of a [[samizdat]] publication inside the [[gulag]] of the PC [politically correct] university". The tabloid was directed at university students, whom Horowitz viewed as indoctrinated by the entrenched Left.<ref>[https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-horowitz David Horowitz profile], splcenter.org; accessed August 10, 2016.</ref> In ''Radical Son'', he wrote that universities were no longer effective in presenting both sides of political arguments. He stated that left-wing professors had created an atmosphere of political "terror" on campuses.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=405–06}}

In a 2001 column in ''[[Salon.com|Salon]]''<ref name="bad"/> he described his opposition to [[reparations for slavery]], calling it racism against blacks, as it defined them only in terms of their descent from slaves. He argued that applying labels like "descendants of [[slavery|slaves]]" to blacks was damaging and would serve to [[racial segregation|segregate]] them from mainstream society. In the same year during [[Black History Month]], Horowitz attempted to purchase advertising space in several American university student publications to express his opposition to reparations.<ref name="bad" /> Many student papers refused to sell him ad space; at some schools, papers that carried his ads were stolen or destroyed.<ref name="bad">{{cite news|url=https://www.salon.com/2001/03/09/horowitz_24/|title=Who's afraid of the big, bad Horowitz?|access-date=February 1, 2007|first=Joan|last=Walsh|date=March 9, 2001|work=Salon.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103215150/http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2001/03/09/horowitz/|archive-date=January 3, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Joan Walsh said the furor had given Horowitz an overwhelming amount of free publicity.<ref name="bad" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.projo.com/words/brown2.htm|title=Embattled editors get Herald out at Brown|access-date=February 1, 2007|first=Si|last=Rosenbaum|date=March 18, 2001|publisher=The Providence Journal Company}}</ref>

In 2005, Horowitz launched [[Discover the Networks]].

Horowitz appeared in ''Occupy Unmasked'', a 2012 documentary portraying the [[Occupy Wall Street]] movement as a sinister organization formed to violently destroy the American government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/2012-republican-convention-occupy-screening-protest-michael-moore-367096|title=2012 Republican Convention: 'Occupy' Screening Brings Cheers, Protests|last1=Bond|first1=Paul|date=August 30, 2012|work=hollywoodreporter.com|publisher=hollywood reporter|access-date=September 25, 2012}}</ref>

In 2018, Horowitz attracted many critical comments by attacking the [[Equal Justice Initiative]]'s new [[National Memorial for Peace and Justice]], calling it "a real racist project"<ref>{{cite magazine
|title=Anti-Muslim figurehead and funder David Horowitz minimizes terrors of lynching
|author=Hatewatch Staff
|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/04/12/anti-muslim-figurehead-and-funder-david-horowitz-minimizes-terrors-lynching
|website=SPLC Hatewatch
|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]
|access-date=June 9, 2018
|date=April 12, 2018}}</ref> showing "anti-white racism".<ref name=Twitter /> "Lynchings were bad but they weren't mainly about whites yanking blacks off the streets and stringing them up".<ref name=Twitter>{{cite web
|title=Tweet April 9, 2018 6:12 PM
|first=David
|last=Horowitz
|publisher=Twitter
|date=April 9, 2018
|access-date=June 10, 2018
|url=https://twitter.com/horowitz39/status/983512961816788992
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180410184948/https://twitter.com/horowitz39/status/983512961816788992
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=April 10, 2018
}}</ref> "A third of the victims of lynchings were white. How many of them do you think this memorial features {{sic}}."<ref>{{cite web
|title=Tweet April 8, 2018 4:52 PM
|first=David
|last=Horowitz
|publisher=Twitter
|date=April 8, 2018
|access-date=June 10, 2018
|url=https://twitter.com/horowitz39/status/983130398040322048
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180410185325/https://twitter.com/horowitz39/status/983130398040322048
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=April 10, 2018
}}</ref>

===Academic Bill of Rights===
In the early 21st century, Horowitz concentrated on issues of academic freedom, attempting to protect conservative viewpoints. He, Eli Lehrer and [[Bruin Alumni Association|Andrew Jones]] published a pamphlet, "Political Bias in the Administrations and Faculties of 32 Elite Colleges and Universities" (2004), in which they find the ratio of [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] at 32 schools to be more than 10 to 1.<ref name="wtimescollege">{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/apr/20/20040420-084524-4394r|title=College update|last=Williams|first=Walter|date=April 20, 2004|work=The Washington Times|access-date=January 8, 2010}}</ref> Horowitz's book, ''[[The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America]]'' (2006), criticized individual professors for, as he alleges, engaging in indoctrination rather than a disinterested pursuit of knowledge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cms.studentsforacademicfreedom.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=5|title=About Students for Academic Freedom|access-date=February 1, 2007|publisher=Students For Academic Freedom|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218163553/http://cms.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=5|archive-date=February 18, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Horowitz published an [[Academic Bill of Rights]] (ABR), which he proposes to eliminate political bias in university hiring and grading. He says conservatives, and particularly [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] members, are systematically excluded from faculties, citing statistical studies on faculty party affiliation.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/11/opinion/where-cronies-dwell.html |title=Where Cronies Dwell|access-date=September 10, 2018|first=John|last=Tierney|date=October 11, 2005|work=The New York Times}}</ref> In 2004 the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution on a 41–5 vote to adopt a version of the ABR for state educational institutions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aaup-ca.org/Larkin_abor.html|title=What's Not To Like About The Academic Bill of Rights|publisher=Aaup-ca.org|access-date=April 23, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121095713/http://aaup-ca.org/Larkin_abor.html|archive-date=January 21, 2013}}</ref> In [[Pennsylvania]], the House of Representatives created a special legislative committee to investigate issues of academic freedom, including whether students who hold unpopular views need more protection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/16/tabor|title=Who Won the Battle of Pennsylvania?|access-date=February 2, 2007|first=Scott|last=Jaschik|date=November 16, 2006|website=Inside Higher Ed}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/22/tabor|title=From Bad to Worse for David Horowitz|access-date=February 2, 2007|first=Scott|last=Jaschik|date=November 22, 2006|website=Inside Higher Ed}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cms.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2308&Itemid=52|title=Pennsylvania Legislative Committee Advocates Sweeping Reforms to Campus Academic Freedom Policies|access-date=February 2, 2007|first=Sara|last=Dogan|date=November 16, 2006|publisher=Students For Academic Freedom|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609093751/http://cms.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2308&Itemid=52|archive-date=June 9, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cms.studentsforacademicfreedom.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2324&Itemid=40|title=Pennsylvania's Academic Freedom Reforms|access-date=February 2, 2007|first=David|last=Horowitz|date=December 6, 2006|publisher=Students For Academic Freedom|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218004730/http://cms.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2324&Itemid=40|archive-date=February 18, 2007}}</ref>

===David Horowitz Freedom Center===
In 1998 Horowitz and [[Peter Collier (writer)|Peter Collier]] founded the ''[[David Horowitz Freedom Center]].''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Charity Navigator − Rating for David Horowitz Freedom Center|url=https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/954194642|access-date=2022-01-18|website=www.charitynavigator.org|language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Politico]]'' states that Horowitz's activities and DHFC are funded in part by Aubrey and Joyce Chernick and The [[Bradley Foundation]]. Politico stated that during 2008–2010, "the lion's share of the $920,000 it [DHFC] provided over the past three years to [[Jihad Watch]] came from [Joyce] Chernick".<ref>Smith, Ben (September 4, 2010). "[https://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2010/09/mosques-and-money-029008 Mosques and Money]" (blog post). Politico.com. Retrieved September 10, 2018.</ref> Between July 2000 and February 2006 the freedom center provided a total of $43,000 in funding for 25 trips taken by Republican senators and representatives including [[Mike Pence]], [[Mitch McConnell]], [[Bob Barr]], [[Fred Thompson]] and others.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-09-27 |title=C-SPAN: Campaign Finance Database |url=http://cspan.politicalmoneyline.com/cgi-win/x_PrivateSponsor.exe?DoFn=1987625 |access-date=2022-01-18 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927191456/http://cspan.politicalmoneyline.com/cgi-win/x_PrivateSponsor.exe?DoFn=1987625 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2015, Horowitz made $583,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=583000|start_year=2015}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) from the organization.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last1=O'Harrow|first1=Robert Jr.|last2=Boburg|first2=Shawn|date=2017-06-03|title=How a 'shadow' universe of charities joined with political warriors to fuel Trump's rise|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-a-shadow-universe-of-charities-joined-with-political-warriors-to-fuel-trumps-rise/2017/06/03/ff5626ac-3a77-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html|access-date=2021-11-07|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Horowitz was the editor of the Center's website ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]''. It has been described by scholars and writers as right-wing,{{refn|name=right-wing|<ref name="Philip-2007">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IilDVBzWiGAC&pg=PA183|title=God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis|last=Jenkins|first=Philip|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-988612-8|language=en|pages=14, 182|quote=ultra-conservative [p. 14] ... right-wing [p. 182]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Lisa Wangsness|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/12/05/interfaith-marriage-our-times-muslim-and-jewish-groups-form-coalition-fight-bigotry/CNWEiTfqg3erGIHC5XKhvJ/story.html|title=An interfaith marriage of our times: Muslim and Jewish groups form coalition to fight bigotry |work=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=December 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Dan Conifer|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-11/pauline-hanson-sections-of-party-policies-lifted-from-internet/7587652|title=Text slabs from Pauline Hanson's One Nation policies lifted from internet|date=July 11, 2016|publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319711102|title=Islam, Securitization, and US Foreign Policy|author=Erdoan A. Shipoli|series=SpringerLink |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2018|page=247|language=en}}</ref>}} far-right,{{refn|name=far-right|<ref>{{Cite web|author=David Kenner|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/09/10/how-assad-wooed-the-american-right-and-won-the-syria-propaganda-war/|title=How Assad Wooed the American Right, and Won the Syria Propaganda War|website=Foreign Policy|date=September 10, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Behrmann|first=Savannah|title=Advocacy group releases leaked emails from White House adviser Stephen Miller to Breitbart|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/12/emails-show-white-house-advisor-stephen-miller-tauting-white-nationalism/2582150001/|access-date=2020-07-07|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Did Merriam-Webster Update Its Definition of 'Racism' To Say Only White People Are Racist?|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/merriam-webster-definition-racism/|access-date=2020-07-07|website=Snopes.com|date=June 17, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref>}} [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]],{{refn|name=Islamophobic|<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ekman|first1=Mattias|title=Online Islamophobia and the politics of fear: manufacturing the green scare|journal=[[Ethnic and Racial Studies]]|date=30 March 2015|volume=38|issue=11|pages=1986–2002|doi=10.1080/01419870.2015.1021264|s2cid=144218430|issn=0141-9870}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abu-Lughod |first1=Lila |authorlink=Lila Abu-Lughod |title=The cross-publics of ethnography: The case of "the Muslimwoman" |journal=[[American Ethnologist]] |date=November 2016 |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=595–608 |doi=10.1111/amet.12377 |url=https://arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/pdf-abu-lughod-2.pdf |access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ernst |first1=Carl W.| authorlink=Carl W. Ernst |title=Islamophobia in America: the anatomy of intolerance |date=March 20, 2013 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-1-137-29007-6 |page=142}}</ref>}} and anti-Islam.{{refn|name=anti-Islam|<ref>{{Cite news|author=David Noriega|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidnoriega/the-muslim-brotherhood-and-muslim-civil-rights-groups|title=How One Policy Change Could Wipe Out Muslim Civil Liberties|work=BuzzFeed|date=November 16, 2016|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/muslim-brotherhood-ted-cruz_us_58764d44e4b092a6cae42666|title=Ted Cruz vs. The Muslim Brotherhood Boogeyman|last=Mathias|first=Christopher|date=2017-01-13|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2018-08-20|language=en-US}}</ref>}}

=== Political positions ===
Horowitz was a former [[Marxism|Marxist]], but was later described as being conservative.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Horowitz |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview/david-horowitz/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=FRONTLINE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Godfather |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2014/godfather |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=May 24, 2014 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2016-02-15 |title=Why Leftists Go Right |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/22/why-leftists-go-right |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |access-date=2022-09-30}}</ref> During his time in the New Left, Horowitz supported the [[civil rights movement]]. In the 1970s, he came to believe that the [[Black Panther Party|Black Panthers]] were involved in the death of his friend [[Murder of Betty Van Patter|Betty Van Patter]], souring the relationship between Horowitz and the Black Panthers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Horowitz |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-horowitz |access-date=2022-01-18 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en |quote=Despite Horowitz being a founding intellectual member of the New Left in the 1960s, and an advocate for civil rights and equality, he has since the late 1980s become a driving force of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-black movements.}}</ref>

Horowitz wrote against United States intervention in the [[Kosovo War]], arguing that it was unnecessary and harmful to United States interests,<ref>22/Feb/1999 [https://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1999/fr022299.htm Clinton Kosovo Intervention Appears Imminent], senate.gov; accessed August 10, 2016.</ref> but supported the [[interventionism (politics)|interventionist]] foreign policy associated with the [[Bush Doctrine]], including the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horowitz |first=David |date=2002-11-26 |title=Joe Conason got it wrong |url=https://www.salon.com/2002/11/25/response_4/ |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref> He also wrote critically of [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] [[Anti-war movement|anti-war]] views.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 12, 2007 |title=CNN.com – Transcripts |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0711/12/gb.01.html |access-date=April 23, 2013 |publisher=Transcripts.cnn.com}}</ref>

Horowitz opposed [[Barack Obama]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-05-07 |title=How Obama Betrayed America |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2013/05/how-obama-betrayed-america-david-horowitz/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}</ref> [[illegal immigration]], [[gun control]], and [[Islam]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=1999-07-06|title=What's gun control got to do with it?|url=https://www.salon.com/1999/07/06/guns_4/|access-date=2021-10-07|website=Salon|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Guerrero|first=Jean|title=The Man Who Made Stephen Miller|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/01/stephen-miller-david-horowitz-mentor-389933|access-date=2021-10-07|website=POLITICO|date=August 2020 |language=en}}</ref> He endorsed Presidents [[Ronald Reagan]], [[George W. Bush]], and [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-20 |title='Trump is 100% right': David Horowitz, the thinker who sponsored Stephen Miller |url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/20/donald-trump-david-horowitz-stephen-miller-family-separation-border-policy |access-date=2021-10-07 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-10 |title=The Life and Work of David Horowitz |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/11/david-horowitz-journey-left-right/ |access-date=2021-10-07 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Horowitz |first=David |date=1999-05-06 |title="I'm a uniter, not a divider" |url=https://www.salon.com/1999/05/06/bush_2/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref>

Horowitz described himself as "a defender of gays and 'alternative lifestyles', a moderate on abortion, and a civil rights activist".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horowitz |first=David |date=2002-07-16 |title=One fishy argument |url=https://www.salon.com/2002/07/15/fish_3/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref>

===Criticism of Islam and Arab cultures===
Horowitz was critical of [[Palestinians]], claiming that their goal is to wipe out Jews from the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-04-04 |title=The Palestinians' true cause |url=https://www.salon.com/2002/04/04/israel_35/ |access-date=2021-10-07 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref> “No people have shown themselves as so morally sick as the Palestinians,” he said at Brooklyn College in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Horowitz |url=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/david-horowitz/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

Horowitz published a 2007 piece in the [[Columbia University]] student newspaper, saying that, according to public opinion polls, "150 million out of 750 million Muslims support a holy war against Christians, Jews, and other Muslims."<ref>{{cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/10/19/david-horowitz-awareness/ |access-date=November 6, 2018 |website=Columbiaspectator.com}}</ref> Speaking at the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] in February 2010, Horowitz compared Islamists to Nazis, saying: "Islamists are worse than the Nazis, because even the Nazis did not tell the world that they want to exterminate the Jews."<ref name="horowitz">{{cite news |date=February 25, 2010 |title=Horowitz Brings Controversial Ideas to Student Union |url=http://dailycollegian.com/2010/02/25/controversial-author-horowitz-lectures-umass-students |website=Dailycollegian.com}}</ref>

Horowitz created a campaign for what he called "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" in parody of multicultural awareness activities. He helped arrange for leading critics of radical Islam to speak at more than a hundred college campuses in October 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Student's Guide to Hosting Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week |url=http://terrorismawareness.org/islamo-fascism-awareness-week/49/a-students-guide-to-hosting-islamo-fascism-awareness-week/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011040510/http://terrorismawareness.org/islamo-fascism-awareness-week/49/a-students-guide-to-hosting-islamo-fascism-awareness-week/ |archive-date=11 October 2007 |website=terrorismawareness.org}}</ref> As a speaker, he was repeatedly met with intense hostility.<ref>{{cite news |author=Goldberg, Jonah |author-link=Jonah Goldberg |date=May 18, 2010 |title=Left, right and wrong |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-may-18-la-oe-goldberg-censor-20100518-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610103116/http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/18/opinion/la-oe-goldberg-censor-20100518 |archive-date=June 10, 2010 |access-date=August 14, 2014 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Trotten |first=Michael J. |date=May 13, 2010 |title=A Most Disturbing Moment of Clarity |url=http://www.commentarymagazine.com/topic/jumanah-imad-albahri/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814181219/http://www.commentarymagazine.com/topic/jumanah-imad-albahri/ |archive-date=August 14, 2014 |access-date=August 14, 2014 |magazine=[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]] |df=mdy}}</ref>

In 2008, while speaking at [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] (UCSB), Horowitz criticized Arab culture, saying that it was rife with [[antisemitism]].<ref name="UCSBevent">{{cite news |author=Preston, Ben |date=May 15, 2008 |title=David Horowitz Provokes Extreme Response with Anti-Arab Remarks |url=http://www.independent.com/news/2008/may/15/david-horowitz-provokes-extreme-response-anti-arab |work=[[Santa Barbara Independent]]}}</ref> He referred to the [[Palestinian keffiyeh]], a traditional Arab head covering that became associated with [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]] leader [[Yasser Arafat]], as a “symbol of terrorism”. In response, [[University of California, Santa Barbara|UCSB]] professor Walid Afifi said that Horowitz was "preaching hate" and smearing Arab culture.<ref name="UCSBevent" />

Horowitz used university student publications and lectures at universities as venues for publishing controversial advertisements or lecturing on issues related to Islamic student and other organizations. In April 2008, DHFC advertised in the ''[[Daily Nexus]],'' the UCSB school newspaper, saying that the Muslim Students' Association (MSA) had links with the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], [[Al-Qaeda]], and [[Hamas]].<ref name="Horowitzad">{{cite news |last=Gottlieb |first=Benjamin |date=April 24, 2008 |title=Speaker Addresses Jihad, Role of U.S. in the Middle East |url=http://www.dailynexus.com/2008-04-24/speaker-addresses-jihad-role-of-us-in-the-middle-east/ |access-date=February 27, 2017 |newspaper=[[Daily Nexus]]}}</ref> The next month, Horowitz, speaking at UCSB, said that MSA supports "a second Holocaust of the Jews".<ref name="UCSBevent" /> The MSA responded that they were a peaceful organization and not a political group.<ref name="Horowitzad" /> The MSA's faculty adviser said the group had "been involved in interfaith activities with Jewish student groups, and they've been involved in charity work for national disaster relief."<ref name="UCSBevent" /> Horowitz ran the ad in ''[[The GW Hatchet]]'', the student newspaper of [[George Washington University]] in Washington, D.C. Jake Sherman, the ''Hatchet''<nowiki/>'s editor-in-chief, said claims the MSA was radical were "ludicrous".<ref>{{cite news |date=April 21, 2008 |title=An ad, certainly not an endorsement |url=http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2008/04/21/Opinions/Inside.Our.Pages.Jake.Sherman.An.Ad.Certainly.Not.An.Endorsement-3337362.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202173700/http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2008/04/21/Opinions/Inside.Our.Pages.Jake.Sherman.An.Ad.Certainly.Not.An.Endorsement-3337362.shtml |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |newspaper=[[The GW Hatchet]] |df=mdy}}</ref>

He became an early user of the question "[[Do you condemn Hamas?]]" which he directed to a Muslim student at the [[University of California, San Diego|University of California, San Diego (UCSD)]] on May 11, 2010.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last1=Culture |first1=Ryan Smith Senior Pop |last2=Reporter |first2=Entertainment |date=2023-10-12 |title=David Horowitz's "harrowing" Hamas exchange with student goes viral |url=https://www.newsweek.com/david-horowitz-harrowing-hamas-exchange-student-goes-viral-1834263 |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Lopez-Hodoyan • • |first=Katia |date=2010-05-17 |title=UCSD Student's Remark Triggers Controversy |url=https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ucsd-students-remark-triggers-controversy/1892567/ |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=NBC 7 San Diego |language=en-US}}</ref> The student was a member of UCSD's Muslim Student Association, then holding Justice in Palestine Week, which students said Horowitz had referred to as "Hitler Youth Week".<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> In 2017, Horowitz's Freedom Center targeted pro-Palestinian professors and students.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stahl |first=Aviva |date=2017-10-03 |title=Poster Campaign Calls Brooklyn College Students 'Terrorist Supporters' |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/david-horowitz-is-putting-up-posters-calling-brooklyn-college-students-terrorist-supporters/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=The Village Voice |language=en-US}}</ref>

In a 2011 review of anti-Islamic activists in the US, the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] identified Horowitz as one of ten people in the United States' "Anti-Muslim Inner Circle".<ref>[http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2011/summer/the-anti-muslim-inner-circle "The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle,"] ''Intelligence Report'', Summer 2011, Issue Number: 142, Splcenter.org; accessed August 10, 2016.</ref> He was also described as "the godfather of the anti-[[Muslims|Muslim]] movement",<ref>{{cite book|url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/192414854/Aked_Jones_Miller_Counterjihad_report_2019.pdf|last1=Aked|first1=H.|last2=Jones|first2=M.|last3=Miller|first3=D.|year=2019|title=Islamophobia in Europe: How governments are enabling the far-right 'counter-jihad' movement|series=Public Interest Investigations|publisher=University of Bristol|page=57|isbn=978-0-9570274-9-7|hdl=1983/cd525157-683a-493b-b27f-9a5ffbca312c|hdl-access=free}}</ref> and as "possibly the number one [[counter-jihad]] personality", financing many other groups through his organization.<ref>{{cite news|first=Nikolaj|last=Nielsen|publisher=EU Observer|title=EU authorities accused of blindness on 'counter-jihad' |url=http://euobserver.com/22/115896|date=April 16, 2012|access-date=May 3, 2012|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419162354/http://euobserver.com/22/115896|archive-date=April 19, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017 Horowitz's center put up posters on university campuses naming students and professors who support Palestinian rights, with the names taken from the anonymous doxxing group [[Canary Mission]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campion |first=Angela |date=2017-09-26 |title=Targeted by David Horowitz? Fight Back: 6 Actions to Demand of Your University |url=https://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/9/26/targeted-by-david-horowitz-fight-back |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Palestine Legal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stahl |first=Aviva |date=2017-10-03 |title=Poster Campaign Calls Brooklyn College Students 'Terrorist Supporters' |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/david-horowitz-is-putting-up-posters-calling-brooklyn-college-students-terrorist-supporters/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=The Village Voice |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Responses to Horowitz's views==
Some Horowitz accounts of U.S. colleges and universities as bastions of liberal indoctrination have been disputed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-05-31-horowitz-cover_x.htm|work=USA Today|title=Ex-liberal navigates right|date=May 31, 2006|access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> For example, Horowitz alleged that a [[University of Northern Colorado]] student received a failing grade on a final exam for refusing to write an essay arguing that [[George W. Bush]] is a [[War crime|war criminal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/archive/2005/March2005/UNColoradostorydetails031405.htm|title=University of N. Colorado Story Confirmed|publisher=Studentsforacademicfreedom.org|access-date=April 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016104231/http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/archive/2005/March2005/UNColoradostorydetails031405.htm|archive-date=October 16, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> A spokeswoman for the university said that the test question was not as described by Horowitz and that there were nonpolitical reasons for the grade, which was not an F.<ref name="Jaschik">{{cite web |last1=Jaschik |first1=Scott |title=Tattered Poster Child |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/03/15/tattered-poster-child |website=Inside Higher Ed |access-date=27 October 2018 |date=15 March 2005}}</ref> Horowitz identified the professor<ref name="Jaschik"/> as Robert Dunkley, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Northern Colorado. Dunkley said Horowitz made him an example of [[liberal bias in academia|"liberal bias" in academia]] and yet, "Dunkley said that he comes from a Republican family, is a registered Republican and considers himself politically independent, taking pride in never having voted a straight party ticket".<ref name="Jaschik" />

In another instance, Horowitz said a [[Pennsylvania State University]] biology professor showed his students the film ''[[Fahrenheit 9/11]]'' just before the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 election]] in an attempt to influence their votes.<ref>The [[David Horowitz Freedom Center|Students for Academic Freedom]] report "The Campaign for Academic Freedom", p. 38</ref> Pressed by ''Inside Higher Ed'', Horowitz said that the claim was hearsay from a "legislative staffer" and that he had no proof it happened.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jaschik|first=Scott|url=http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/01/11/retract|title=Retractions From David Horowitz: Inside Higher Ed|website=Inside Higher Ed|date=January 11, 2006|access-date=April 23, 2013|archive-date=September 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906051602/http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/01/11/retract|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Horowitz's books, particularly ''[[The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America]],'' were criticized by scholars such as [[Todd Gitlin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/dangprofs//2006/03/professors-post-todd-gitlin-on.html|title=Professor's Post: Todd Gitlin on Horowitz' 'dangerous professors'|publisher=StudentsforAcademicFreedom.org|date=March 1, 2006|access-date=April 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630151520/http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/dangprofs//2006/03/professors-post-todd-gitlin-on.html|archive-date=June 30, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The group ''Free Exchange on Campus'' issued a 50-page report in May 2006 in which they take issue with many of the books' assertions: they identify specific factual errors, unsubstantiated assertions and quotations that appear to be either in error or taken out of context.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060624025117/http://www.freeexchangeoncampus.org/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=25&task=view_category&catid=12&order=dmdate_published&ascdesc=DESC Free Exchange on Campus], Freeexchangeoncampus.org; accessed August 10, 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Jaschik|first=Scott|url=http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/05/09/report|title=Fact-Checking David Horowitz|website=Inside Higher Ed|date=May 9, 2006|access-date=April 23, 2013|archive-date=September 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906041847/http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/05/09/report|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Chip Berlet]], writing for the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC), accused Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture of being one of 17 "right-wing foundations and think tanks support[ing] efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable."<ref name="berlet"/> Berlet accused Horowitz of blaming [[slavery]] on "black Africans ... abetted by dark-skinned Arabs" and of "attack[ing] minority 'demands for special treatment' as 'only necessary because some blacks can't seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others".<ref name="berlet">{{cite web|last=Berlet|first=Chip|year=2003|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2003/mainstream|title=Into the Mainstream|work=Intelligence Report|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|access-date=February 26, 2017}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Horowitz was married four times. He married Elissa Krauthamer, in a [[Yonkers, New York]], synagogue on June 14, 1959.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=92–95}} They had four children together: Jonathan Daniel, [[Ben Horowitz|Ben]], Sarah Rose (deceased) and Anne. Sarah died in March 2008 at age 44 from [[Turner syndrome]]-related heart complications. She had been a teacher, writer and human rights activist.<ref name="children">{{cite news|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/34713/teacher-writer-human-rights-activist-dies-unexpectedly|title=Teacher, writer, human rights activist dies unexpectedly at 44|last=Palevsky|first=Stacey|date=April 10, 2008|work=JWeekly.com|access-date=January 8, 2010}}</ref><ref name="timesdaughter">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/25/you-can-lose-people-through-death-and-you-can-lose|title=David Horowitz honors his daughter's life|last=Bunch|first=Sunny|date=November 25, 2009|work=The Washington Times|access-date=January 8, 2010}}</ref> She is the subject of Horowitz's 2009 book, ''A Cracking of the Heart.''<ref name="timesdaughter" />

Horowitz's son, [[Ben Horowitz|Ben]], is a technology entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder, along with [[Marc Andreessen]], of the [[venture capital]] firm [[Andreessen Horowitz]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://a16z.com/author/ben-horowitz|title=Ben Horowitz (About)|website=a16z.com|access-date=October 20, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://forward.com/news/340852/7-things-about-david-horowitz-the-right-wing-polemicist-who-coined-renegade|title=7 Things About David Horowitz, the Right-Wing Polemicist Who Coined 'Renegade Jew' Slur|author=Nathan-Kazis, Josh|date=2016-05-17|website=Forward.com|access-date=2017-02-27}}</ref>

Horowitz's second marriage in 1984, to Sam Moorman, ended in divorce within less than a year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Disillusioned radicals: The intellectual odyssey of Todd Gitlin, Ronald Radosh and David Horowitz |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/ecf5078505d529a23234b4697721c377/1?cbl=18750&pq-origsite=gscholar |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=ProQuest |language=en}}</ref> On June 24, 1990, Horowitz married Shay Marlowe in an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] ceremony.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=413–16}} They divorced. 

Horowitz's fourth and final marriage was to April Mullvain.<ref name="Jacobson" /> The couple met in the mid-1990s, and married two years later.<ref name="Horowitz-2015">{{Cite book |last=Horowitz |first=David |title=You're Going to Be Dead One Day: A Love Story |publisher=Regnery Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-62157-379-1 |pages=35, 37, 38 and 158}}</ref> He and April lived in horse country northwest of Los Angeles,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Streitfeld |first=David |date=2017-07-22 |title=One Family, Many Revolutions: From Black Panthers, to Silicon Valley, to Trump |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/22/technology/one-family-many-revolutions-from-black-panthers-to-silicon-valley-to-trump.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> where she rescues abused horses and provides equine educational programs.<ref name="Horowitz-2015" />

Horowitz, in 2015, described himself as an agnostic.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/12/david-horowitz-romance-age|title=David Horowitz: A romance of age|last=Horowitz|first=David|date=June 12, 2015|work=The Washington Times}}</ref>

Horowitz died from cancer at his home in Colorado, on April 29, 2025, at the age of 86.<ref name = Gabriel>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/us/politics/david-horowitz-dead.html|title = David Horowitz, Leftist Turned Trump Defender, Is Dead at 86|last = Gabriel|first = Trip|date = April 30, 2025|accessdate = April 30, 2025|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited}}</ref>

== Works ==
=== Books ===
* ''Student''. (Ballantine, 1962) {{OCLC|1968166}}
* ''Shakespeare: An Existential View''. (Tavistock, 1965) {{OCLC|8545094}}
* ''[https://archive.org/details/freeworldcolossus The Free World Colossus: A Critique of American Foreign Policy in the Cold War]''. [[Hill & Wang]] (1965, revised edition 1971) {{ISBN|978-0-8090-0107-1}} {{OCLC|122073}}
* ''From Yalta to Vietnam: American Foreign Policy in the Cold War''. [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] (1967) {{ISBN|978-0-14-021147-4}} {{OCLC|304200}}
* ''Containment and Revolution''. [[Beacon Press]] (1968)
* ''Marx and Modern Economics''. Modern Reader Paperbacks (1968) {{OCLC|59796224}}
* ''Corporations and the Cold War''. [[Monthly Review Press]] (1969) {{OCLC|3715379}}
* ''Empire and Revolution: A Radical Interpretation of Contemporary History''. [[Random House]] (1969) {{OCLC|759274}}
* ''Universities and the Ruling Class: How Wealth Puts Knowledge in its Pocket''. Bay Area Radical Education Project (1969)
:: Originally published in ''[[Ramparts (magazine)|Ramparts]]'' as "Billion Dollar Brains" (May 1969) and "Sinews of Empire" (August 1969).
* ''Isaac Deutscher: The Man and His Work''. Macdonald and Company (1971) {{ISBN|978-0-356-03156-9}} {{OCLC|281670}}
* ''Radical Sociology: An Introduction''. Canfield Press (1971) {{ISBN|978-0-06-383865-9}} {{OCLC|263656516}}
* ''Counterculture and Revolution'', with Craig Pyes (Random House, 1972) {{ISBN|978-0-394-31553-9}} {{OCLC|215350}}
* ''The Fate of Midas, and other Essays''. Ramparts Press (1973) {{ISBN|978-0-87867-032-1}} {{OCLC|730559}}
* ''The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty'', with Peter Collier. Summit Books (1976) {{ISBN|978-0-671-67445-8}} {{OCLC|18746502}}
* ''The First Frontier: The Indian Wars and America's Origins, 1607–1776''. Simon & Schuster (1978) {{ISBN|978-0-671-22534-6}} {{OCLC|4194194}}
* ''The Kennedys: An American Drama'', with Peter Collier. Encounter Books (1984) {{ISBN|978-0-671-44793-9}} {{OCLC|10711800}}
* ''The Fords: An American Epic'', with Peter Collier. Encounter Books (1987) {{ISBN|978-0-671-54093-7}} {{OCLC|16844914}}
* ''Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts about the 60s'', with [[Peter Collier (writer)|Peter Collier]]. [[Summit Books]] (1989) {{ISBN|978-0-671-66752-8}} {{OCLC|18870005}}
* ''Second Thoughts about Race in America'', with Peter Collier (Madison Books, 1991) {{ISBN|978-0-8191-8243-2}} {{OCLC|24246309}}
* ''Deconstructing the Left: From Vietnam to the Persian Gulf''. (Second Thoughts Books, 1991) {{ISBN|978-0-8191-8315-6}} {{OCLC|24067317}}
* ''The Roosevelts: An American Saga'' with Peter Collier. [[Simon & Schuster]] (1994) {{ISBN|978-0-233-98927-3}} {{OCLC|33664990}}
* ''Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey''. [[Simon & Schuster]] (1996) {{ISBN|978-0-684-84005-5}} {{OCLC|38928326}}
* ''The Politics of Bad Faith: The Radical Assault on America's Future''. [[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]] (1998) {{ISBN|978-0-684-85679-7}} {{OCLC|43650827}}
* ''Sex, Lies and Vast Conspiracies''. (Second Thoughts Books, 1998) {{ISBN|978-1-886442-14-6}}
* ''Hating Whitey and Other Progressive Causes''. Spence Publishing Co. (1999) {{ISBN|978-1-890626-21-1}} {{OCLC|41981890}}
* ''Uncivil Wars: The Controversy Over Reparations for Slavery''. (Encounter Books, 2002) {{ISBN|978-1-893554-44-3}} {{OCLC|47849447}}
* ''How to Beat the Democrats and Other Subversive Ideas''. (Spence Publishing, 2002) {{ISBN|978-1-890626-41-9}} {{OCLC|50246759}}
* ''Left Illusion: An Intellectual Odyssey''. (Spence Publishing, 2003) {{ISBN|978-1-890626-56-3}}
* ''The Art of Political War and Other Radical Pursuits''. (Spence Publishing, 2004) {{ISBN|978-1-890626-28-0}} {{OCLC|44026293}}
* ''[[The Anti-Chomsky Reader]]'' with [[Peter Collier (writer)|Peter Collier]]. [[Encounter Books]] (2004) {{ISBN|978-1-893554-97-9}}
* ''Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left''. [[Regnery Publishing]] (2004) {{ISBN|978-0-89526-026-0}} {{OCLC|64385505}}
* ''The End of Time''. (Encounter, 2005) {{ISBN|978-1-59403-129-8}} {{OCLC|60378448}}
* ''[[The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America]]''. (Regnery, 2006) {{ISBN|978-1-59698-525-4}} {{OCLC|180272939}}
* ''Indoctrination U: The Left's War Against Academic Freedom''. (Encounter, 2007) {{ISBN|978-1-59403-367-4}} {{OCLC|609854164}}
* ''Party of Defeat: How Democrats and Radicals Undermined America’s War on Terror Before and After 9/11'', with Ben Johnson. (Spence Publishing, 2008) {{ISBN|978-1-890626-74-7}} {{OCLC|224508933}}
* ''One Party Classroom: How Radical Professors at America's Top Colleges Indoctrinate Students and Undermine Our Democracy''. (Crown Forum, 2009) {{ISBN|978-0-307-45255-9}} {{OCLC|232980253}}
* ''A Cracking of the Heart''. (Regnery, 2009) {{ISBN|978-1-59698-103-4}} {{OCLC|317453616}}
* ''Reforming Our Universities: The Campaign For An Academic Bill Of Rights''. (Regnery, 2010) {{ISBN|978-1-59698-157-7}} {{OCLC|694142894}}
* ''A Point in Time : The Search for Redemption in This Life and the Next''. (Regnery, 2011) {{ISBN|978-1-59698-295-6}} {{OCLC|759159586}}
* ''Radicals: Portraits of a Destructive Passion''. (Regnery, 2012) {{ISBN|978-1-62157-006-6}} {{OCLC|812193305}}
* ''The New Leviathan: How the Left-Wing Money-Machine Shapes American Politics and Threatens America's Future''. (2012) {{ISBN|978-0-307-71645-3}} {{OCLC|754714308}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 1: My Life and Times''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2013) {{ISBN|978-1-59403-695-8}} {{OCLC|863201404}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 2: Progressives''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1-886442-95-5}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 3: The Great Betrayal''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1-886442-96-2}}
* ''Take No Prisoners: The Battle Plan for Defeating the Left''. (Regnery, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1-62157-261-9}} {{OCLC|884012884}}
* ''You're Going to be Dead One Day: A Love Story''. (Regnery, 2015) {{ISBN|978-1-62157-433-0}} {{OCLC|907291786}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 4: Islamo-Fascism and the War Against the Jews''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2015) {{ISBN|978-1-941262-00-9}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 5: Culture Wars''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2015) {{ISBN|978-1-941262-01-6}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 6: Progressive Racism''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2016) {{ISBN|978-1-59403-859-4}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 7: The Left in Power''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2016) {{ISBN|978-1-941262-03-0}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 8: The Left in the University''. (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2017) {{ISBN|978-1-941262-04-7}}
* ''The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party''. [[Newsmax#Humanix|Humanix Books]] (2017) {{ISBN|978-1-59555-103-0}}
* ''Big Agenda: President Trump's Plan to Save America''. ([[Newsmax#Humanix|Humanix Books]], 2017) {{ISBN|978-1-63006-087-9}}
* ''The Black Book of the American Left. Volume 9: Ruling Ideas'' (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2018) {{ISBN|978-1-941262-08-5}}
* ''Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America''. (Humanix, 2018) {{ISBN|978-1-63006-114-2}}
* ''Mortality and Faith: Reflections on a Journey through Time''. (Regnery, 2019) {{ISBN|978-1-62157-813-0}}
* ''BLITZ: Trump Will Smash the Left and Win''. (Humanix Books, 2020) {{ISBN|978-1-63006-138-8}}
* ''The Enemy Within: How a Totalitarian Movement Is Destroying America''. (Regnery, 2021) {{ISBN|978-1-68451-054-2}}
* ''I Can't Breathe: How a Racial Hoax Is Killing America''. (Regnery, 2021) {{ISBN|978-1-68451-218-8}}
* ''Final Battle: The Next Election Could Be the Last''. (Humanix, 2023) {{ISBN|978-1-63006-224-8}}

=== Articles ===
* [[Carl Oglesby|Oglesby, Carl]], and David Horowitz. "In Defense of Paranoia: An Exchange Between Carl Oglesby and David Horowitz". ''[[Ramparts (magazine)|Ramparts]]'' (March 1975), pp.&nbsp;15–20.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
<!-- This is required by all the "Horowitz 2011" refs in the article, do not remove it unless you intend to also correct those references -->
* {{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eZt8AKYQAPAC|page=84}} |title=Radical Son: A Generational Oddysey |last=Horowitz |first=David |date=2011-12-13 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-3519-8 |language=en}}

==Further reading==
* Ashbolt, Anthony (November 1986). [http://library.brown.edu/cds/catalog/catalog.php?verb=render&colid=20&id=1142530152811840 "Requiem for the Sixties? David Horowitz and the Politics of Forgetting"] ''[[Radical America]]'', vol. 19, no. 6, pp.&nbsp;64–73.
* {{Cite book|last=Ellis|first=Marc H.|author-link=Marc H. Ellis|date=1997|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=kr8nAAAAYAAJ}}|title=Unholy Alliance: Religion and Atrocity in Our Time|publisher=[[Augsburg Fortress Publishers#History|Fortress Press]]|isbn=978-0-8006-3080-5|language=en}}
* {{Cite book|last=Giroux|first=H.|author-link=Henry Giroux|date=2006-03-31|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=rV7HAAAAQBAJ}}|title=America on the Edge: Henry Giroux on Politics, Culture, and Education|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4039-8436-4|language=en}}
* Radosh, Ronald, and Sol Stern (May 5, 2021). [https://newrepublic.com/article/162227/david-horowitz-profile-trump-propagandist-radical-leftist "Our Friend David Horowitz—The Trump Propagandist"]. ''[[The New Republic]]''.

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/ FrontPageMag.com]
* {{IMDb name| 1783774}}
* [http://www.horowitzfreedomcenter.org/ David Horowitz Freedom Center]
* [http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/ Students for Academic Freedom]
* {{C-SPAN|12381}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|United States|Conservatism}}
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