What is Louis Francis Budenz remembered for in mid-20th century American life?

Louis Francis Budenz (July 17, 1891 – April 27, 1972) was an American activist and writer, as well as a Soviet espionage agent and head of the Buben group of spies, a fifth-column group who worked inside the United States to promote and aid Communism.

He began as a labor activist and became a member of the Communist Party USA.

In 1945, Budenz renounced Communism and became a vocal anti-Communist, appearing as an expert witness at various governmental hearings and authoring a series of books on his experiences.

Budenz's role in the labor movement began from a Catholic perspective. In 1915, working with the Central Bureau of the Roman Catholic Central Verein, a reform-minded and social justice-oriented organization in St. Louis, he published 'A List of Books for the Study of the Social Question: Being an Introduction to Catholic Social Literature.'

In 1945, Budenz renounced Communism, returned to the Roman Catholic Church under the guidance of the popular television and radio personality Fulton Sheen, and became an anti-communist advocate.

Formerly the author of numerous articles and pamphlets in support of Communist causes, after 1945 Budenz wrote several books about the dangers and evils of Communism. He became a professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame and later taught at Fordham University, in addition to working as a syndicated columnist and lecturer. In 1947, he wrote an autobiography, 'This Is My Story'.