He became politically active in the Peronist movement as a student in the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences, from which he graduated in 1971.

He continued to participate in political activities until the 1976 coup d'état, later settling in the United States, where he earned a master's degree in science at the University of Nebraska.

[1] In 1992, Rodríguez was appointed as Minister of Education and Culture of Argentina by President Carlos Menem, succeeding Antonio Salonia.

[2] In 2004, Rodríguez testified in the trial against fellow Menem administration secretary María Julia Alsogaray, who stood accused of corruption.

[3] Later, in 2006, Rodríguez was formally accused of embezzlement on his own, for having allegedly allowed the use of public money for a seminar conducted by a private company.