Editing Clare Boothe Luce (section)

==Political career==

===House of Representatives===

In 1942, Luce won a seat in the [[United States House of Representatives]] as a Republican comprising the whole of [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]], the [[Connecticut's 4th congressional district|4th Congressional District]]. She based her platform on three goals: "One, to win the war. Two, to prosecute that war as loyally and effectively as we can as Republicans. Three, to bring about a better world and a durable peace, with special attention to post-war security and employment here at home."<ref name=Clerk>{{cite web|title=Clare Boothe Luce, Representative, 1943–1947, Republican from Connecticut|url=http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=147#foot36|publisher=Office of the Clerk U.S. Capitol, Room H154|access-date=May 29, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618031235/http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=147#foot36|archive-date=June 18, 2012}}</ref> She took up the seat formerly held by her late stepfather, [[Albert E. Austin|Dr. Albert Austin]]. An outspoken critic of Roosevelt's foreign policy,<ref name="Clerk"/> Luce was supported by isolationists and conservatives in Congress, and she was appointed early to the prestigious House Military Affairs Committee. Although she was by no means the only female representative on the floor, her beauty, wealth, and penchant for slashing witticisms{{peacock inline|date=November 2024}} caused her to be treated patronizingly by colleagues of both sexes.<ref>William Miller, ''Fishbait'' (New York, 1977), 67; Clare Boothe Luce to Pearl S. Buck, July 20, 1959, Clare Boothe Luce Papers, Library of Congress</ref> She made a debut in her maiden speech, coining the phrase "globaloney" to disparage Vice President [[Henry A. Wallace|Henry Wallace]]'s recommendation for airlines of the world to be given free access to US airports.<ref>"America in the Post-War Air World", speech by Clare Boothe Luce, Congresswoman from Connecticut, delivered in the House of Representatives, Washington D.C., February 9, 1943. ''Vital Speeches of the Day'', 1943, 331–36.</ref> She called for repeal of the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]], comparing its "doctrine of race theology" to [[Adolf Hitler]]'s,<ref>''Palm Beach Post'', July 7, 1943.</ref> advocated aid for war victims abroad, and sided with the administration on issues such as infant-care and maternity appropriations for the wives of enlisted men. Nevertheless, Roosevelt took a dislike to her and campaigned in 1944 to attempt to prevent her re-election, publicly calling her "a sharp-tongued glamor girl of forty."<ref>New York ''Sun'', November 8, 1944.</ref> She retaliated by accusing Roosevelt of being "the only American president who ever lied us into a war because he did not have the political courage to lead us into it."<ref>''The New York Times'', October 14, 1944.</ref>

During her second term, Luce was instrumental in the creation of the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]<ref name=CBLgrants>{{cite web|title=Clare Boothe Luce|url=http://www.hluce.org/cblprogram.aspx|publisher=The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc|access-date=May 29, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518025520/http://www.hluce.org/cblprogram.aspx|archive-date=May 18, 2012}}</ref> and, during the course of two tours of Allied battlefronts in Europe, she campaigned for more support of what she considered to be America's forgotten army in Italy. She was present at the liberation of several Nazi concentration camps in April 1945, and after [[V-E Day]], she began warning against the rise of international [[Communism]] as another form of totalitarianism, likely to lead to [[World War III]].<ref name="Clerk"/>

In 1946, she was the co-author of the [[Luce–Celler Act of 1946]], which permitted Indians and Filipinos to immigrate to the US, introducing a quota of 100 immigrants from each country, and allowed them ultimately to become naturalized citizens.<ref>Harold A. Gould, Sikhs, Swamis, Students and Spies: The India Lobby in the United States, 1900–1946, Sage Publications, 2006, pp. 393–431.</ref>

Luce did not run for re-election in 1946.

===Endorsements in the 1952 presidential election===
Luce returned to politics during the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]].

Boothe led a group of women delegates to the [[1952 Republican National Convention]] who sought to nominate [[Margaret Chase Smith]] in the balloting for [[vice president of the United States|vice presidential]] nominee. Mrs. Smith, however, requested not to be proposed at the convention as a vice presidential delegate.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brandon |first1=Dorothy |title=Mrs. Conkey Has Doubts India Edwards Can Win |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/433416894 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=The Boston Daily Globe |access-date=26 July 2024 |language=en |date=July 17, 1952}}</ref> Noting that presidential nominee [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s supporters had coalesced around [[Richard Nixon]] for vice president, Luce withdrew her nomination of Smith for the convention's vice presidential balloting.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clare Luce Drops Plan To Nominate Margaret C. Smith |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/140080981 |via=Newspapers.com |publisher=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |access-date=3 November 2024 |language=en |date=July 12, 1952}}</ref>

During the general election, Boothe campaigned on behalf of the Eisenhower–Nixon ticket, giving more than 100 speeches on its behalf. Her anti-Communist speeches on the [[Stump speech (politics)|stump]], radio, and television were effective in persuading a large number of traditionally Democratic-voting Catholics to switch parties and vote Eisenhower.

===Ambassador to Italy===
[[File:Clare Boothe Luce and Henry Luce NYWTS.jpg|thumb|Clare Boothe Luce, ambassador to Italy, with husband Henry Luce (1954)]]
Eisenhower rewarded Luce for her contributions to his presidential campaign by appointing her as ambassador to Italy, a post that oversaw 1150 employees, 8 consulates, and 9 information centers. She was confirmed by the Senate in March 1953, the first American woman ever to hold such an important diplomatic post.

Italians reacted skeptically at first to the arrival of a female ambassador in Rome, but Luce soon convinced those of moderate and conservative temper that she favored their civilization and religion. "Her admirers in Italy – and she had millions – fondly referred to her as la Signora, 'the lady'."<ref>{{cite book |title=CBL, Author and Diplomat |first=Joseph |last=Lyons |page=91}}</ref> The country's large Communist minority, however, regarded her as a foreign meddler in Italian affairs. Luce was pictured with Monsignor William A. Hemmick, the first American canon of St. Peter's Basilica, in the biography of Hemmick, ''Patriot Priest''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/family-ties/stories-of-service/6118-william-anthony-hemmick.html | title=William Anthony Hemmick - World War I Centennial }}</ref>

She was no stranger to [[Pope Pius XII]], who welcomed her as a friend and faithful acolyte.<ref>A popular joke of the time alleged that Luce urged Pius XII to be tougher on communism in defense of the Church, prompting the Pontiff to reply, "You know, Mrs. Ambassador, I am a Catholic too." {{cite news|title=La salvaguardia della Sistina. Stiano tranquilli i consiglieri troppo zelanti.|first=Antonio|last=Paolucci|url=http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1344894|newspaper=L'Osservatore Romano|publisher=www.chiesa.espressonline.it|date=September 13–14, 2010|access-date=September 14, 2011|language=it|trans-title=Sistine chapel safeguard. Too zealous counselors be quiet.|quote=Signora sono cattolico anch'io}}</ref> Over the course of several audiences since 1940, Luce had impressed Pius XII as one of the most effective secular preachers of Catholicism in America.<ref>Fr. Wilfred Thibodeau to Clare Boothe Luce, August 12, 1949, Luce Papers, Library of Congress. In 1957, Luce was awarded the Laertare Medal as an outstanding Catholic layperson. She also received honorary degrees from both Fordham and Temple universities.</ref>

Her principal achievement as ambassador was to play a vital role in negotiating a peaceful solution to the [[Trieste]] Crisis of 1953–1954, a border dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia that she saw as potentially escalating into a war between East and West. Her sympathies throughout were with the Christian Democratic government of [[Giuseppe Pella]], and she was influential on the Mediterranean policy of Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]], another anticommunist. Although Luce regarded the abatement of the acute phase of the crisis in December 1953 as a triumph for herself, the main work of settlement, finalized in October 1954, was undertaken by professional representatives of the five concerned powers (Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and Yugoslavia) meeting in London.<ref>Osvaldo Croci, "The Trieste Crisis, 1953", Ph.D. thesis, McGill University, 1991.</ref>

As ambassador, Luce consistently overestimated the possibility that the Italian left would mount a governmental coup and turn the country communist unless the democratic center was buttressed with generous American aid. A United States Defense Department historical study declassified in 2016 revealed that during her time as ambassador, Luce oversaw a covert financial support program for centrist Italian governments aimed at weakening the [[Italian Communist Party]]'s hold on labor unions.<ref>{{cite web|title=CIA Covert Aid to Italy Averaged $5 Million Annually from Late 1940s to Early 1960s, Study Finds|editor=Dr. Ronald D. Landa|publisher=[[National Security Archive]]|url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence/2017-02-07/cia-covert-aid-italy-averaged-5-million-annually-late-1940s|access-date=August 17, 2018|date=February 7, 2017}}</ref>

Nurturing an image of her own country as a haven of social peace and prosperity, she threatened to boycott the 1955 [[Venice Film Festival]] if the American juvenile delinquent film ''[[Blackboard Jungle]]'' was shown.<ref>{{cite news|title=Envoy Stops Showing of Blackboard Jungle|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eoYQAAAAIBAJ&pg=1675,4368572&dq=clare+boothe+luce+blackboard+jungle&hl=en|newspaper=The Age|date=August 29, 1955}}</ref> Around the same time, she fell seriously ill with [[arsenic poisoning]]. Sensational rumors circulated that the ambassador was the target of extermination by agents of the [[Soviet Union]]. Medical analysis eventually determined that the poisoning was caused by arsenate of lead in paint dust falling from the stucco that decorated her bedroom ceiling. The episode debilitated Luce physically and mentally, and she resigned her post in December 1956.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110504163922/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865337-2,00.html "Foreign Relations: Arsenic for the Ambassador"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', July 23, 1956.</ref> Upon her departure, Rome's ''[[Il Tempo]]'' concluded "She has given a notable example of how well a woman can discharge a political post of grave responsibility."<ref>{{cite book |title=Clare Boothe Luce: Renaissance Woman |first=Daniel |last=Alef}}</ref>

In 1957, she was awarded the [[Laetare Medal]] by the [[University of Notre Dame]], considered the most prestigious award for [[American Catholics]].<ref>{{cite web  |title=Recipients |url=https://laetare.nd.edu/recipients/#info1957|website=The Laetare Medal|publisher=University of Notre Dame |access-date=July 31, 2020}}</ref>

A great appreciator of Italian [[haute couture]], she was a frequent visitor and client of the [[ateliers]] [[Fernanda Gattinoni|Gattinoni]], [[Vincenzo Ferdinandi|Ferdinandi]], [[Emilio Schuberth|Schuberth]], and [[Sorelle Fontana]] in Rome.

===Ambassador to Brazil nomination===

In April 1959, President Eisenhower nominated a recovered Luce to be the [[US Ambassador to Brazil]]. She began to learn enough of the [[Portuguese language]] in preparation for the job, but she was by now so conservative that her appointment met with strong opposition from a small number of Democratic senators. Leading the charge was [[Oregon]] Senator [[Wayne Morse]]. Still, Luce was confirmed by a 79 to 11 vote. Her husband urged her to decline the appointment, noting that it would be difficult for her to work with Morse, who chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Latin American Affairs. Luce eventually sent Eisenhower a letter explaining that she felt that the controversy surrounding her appointment would hinder her abilities to be respected by both her Brazilian and US coworkers. Thus, as she had never left American soil, she never officially took office as ambassador.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 19, 1986 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Women Ambassadors Series AMBASSADOR CLARE BOOTHE LUCE |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Luce,%20Clare%20Boothe.toc.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627032630/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Luce,%20Clare%20Boothe.toc.pdf |archive-date=June 27, 2024 |access-date=July 25, 2024 |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}}</ref>

===Political life after office===

After [[Fidel Castro]] led a revolution in Cuba in 1959, Luce and her husband began to sponsor anticommunist groups. This support included funding Cuban exiles in commando speedboat raids against Cuba in the early 1960s.<ref>[[Anthony Summers|Summers, Anthony]]. ''Not in Your Lifetime'', (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 322. {{ISBN|1-56924-739-0}}</ref><ref>Fonzi, Gaeton. ''The Last Investigation'', (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993), pp. 53–54. {{ISBN|1-56025-052-6}}</ref> Luce's continuing anticommunism as well as her advocacy of conservatism led her to support Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] as the Republican candidate for president in 1964. She also considered but rejected a candidacy for the [[United States Senate]] from New York on the [[Conservative Party of New York State|Conservative party]] ticket. That same year, which also saw the political emergence of future friend [[Ronald Reagan]], marked the voluntary end of Henry Luce's tenure as editor-in-chief of ''Time''. The Luces retired together, establishing a winter home in Arizona and planning a final move to Hawaii. Her husband, Henry, died in 1967 before that dream could be realized, but she went ahead with construction of a luxurious beach house in Honolulu, and, for some years, she led an active life in Hawaii high society.

In 1973, President [[Richard Nixon]] named her to the [[President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board]] (PFIAB). She remained on the board until President [[Jimmy Carter]] succeeded President [[Gerald Ford]] in 1977. By then, she had put down roots in Washington, D.C., that would become permanent in her last years. In 1979, she was the first woman to be awarded the [[Sylvanus Thayer Award]] by the [[United States Military Academy]] at West Point.

President Reagan reappointed Luce to PFIAB. She served on the board until 1983.

In 1986, Luce was the recipient of the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref>

===Presidential Medal of Freedom===
President Reagan awarded her the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]<ref name=CBLPI>{{cite web|title=Writer, Diplomat Clare Boothe Luce|url=http://www.cblpi.org/about/clare.cfm|publisher=Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute|access-date=May 29, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421172618/http://www.cblpi.org/about/clare.cfm|archive-date=April 21, 2012}}</ref> in 1983. She was the first female member of Congress to receive this award.<ref name=Homan2011>{{cite web|last=Homan|first=Paul|title=Women in Government: Clare Boothe Luce|url=http://www.govloop.com/profiles/blogs/women-in-government-clare-boothe-luce|access-date=May 29, 2012|date=October 5, 2011}}</ref>

Upon presenting her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Reagan said this of Luce:
{{blockquote|A novelist, playwright, politician, diplomat, and advisor to Presidents, Clare Boothe Luce has served and enriched her country in many fields. Her brilliance of mind, gracious warmth and great fortitude have propelled her to exceptional heights of accomplishment. As a Congresswoman, Ambassador, and Member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Clare Boothe Luce has been a persistent and effective advocate of freedom, both at home and abroad. She has earned the respect of people from all over the world, and the love of her fellow Americans.<ref name=UTexas1983>{{cite web|title=Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom|url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/22383c.htm|publisher=University of Texas|access-date=May 29, 2012|location=East Room at the White House|date=February 23, 1983|archive-date=October 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011053642/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/22383c.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}