Editing Clare Boothe Luce

{{Short description|American author and politician (1903–1987)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name             = Clare Boothe Luce
| image            = Clare boothe.jpg
| ambassador_from1 = United States
| country1         = Italy
| president1       = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| term_start1      = May 4, 1953
| term_end1        = December 27, 1956
| predecessor1     = [[Ellsworth Bunker]]
| successor1       = [[James David Zellerbach]]
| state2           = [[Connecticut]]
| district2        = {{ushr|CT|4|4th}}
| term_start2      = January 3, 1943
| term_end2        = January 3, 1947
| predecessor2     = [[Le Roy D. Downs]]
| successor2       = [[John Davis Lodge|John Lodge]]
| birth_name       = Ann Clare Boothe
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1903|3|10}}
| birth_place      = New York City, U.S.
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1987|10|9|1903|3|10}}
| death_place      = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| party            = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse           = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[George Tuttle Brokaw]]|1923|1929|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|[[Henry Luce]]|1935|1967|end=died}}}}
| children         = 1
}}
{{Conservatism US|politicians}}

'''Clare Boothe Luce''' ({{née|'''Ann Clare Boothe'''}}; March 10, 1903<ref name="In Search of Clare Boothe Luce ">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/31/magazine/in-search-of-clare-boothe-luce.html?src=pm&pagewanted=4 | title=In Search of Clare Boothe Luce | work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] | date=January 31, 1988 | access-date=June 19, 2014 | author=Morris, Sylvia Jukes | pages=4 of 5 | quote=I tracked down her New York birth certificate, and found that she was born not on April 10, 1903, but on March 10 – and not on Riverside Drive, but in the less genteel environs of West 125th Street.}}</ref><ref>Clare Boothe Luce's authorized biographer has corrected the misperception, encouraged by Luce herself, that she was born a month later: "I tracked down her New York birth certificate and found that she was born not on April 10, 1903 but on March 10—and not on Riverside Drive but in the less genteel environs of West 125th Street. I told her about the dates and she stared at me. 'Mother always said I was born at Easter. Anyway&nbsp;... people born under the Aries sign are much more lighthearted and gay than those born under Pisces.'" Sylvia Jukes Morris, "In Search of Clare Boothe Luce", ''The New York Times Magazine'', January 31, 1988</ref> – October 9, 1987)<!-- see talk page re birthdate --> was an American writer, politician, diplomat, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play ''[[The Women (play)|The Women]]'', which had an all-female cast. Her writings extended from drama and screen scenarios to fiction, journalism, and war reportage. She served as [[United States Ambassador to Italy|U.S. Ambassador to Italy]] from 1953 to 1956, and as a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representative]] for [[Connecticut's 4th congressional district]] from 1943 to 1947. She was married to [[Henry Luce]], publisher of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'', and ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''.

Politically, Luce was a leading conservative in later life and was well known for her [[anti-communism]]. In her youth, she briefly aligned herself with the liberalism of President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] as a protégé of [[Bernard Baruch]] but later became an outspoken [[Criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt|critic of Roosevelt]].<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;191–98.</ref> Although she was a strong supporter of the [[Anglo-American alliance]] in [[World War II]], she remained outspokenly critical of [[British colonialism in India]].<ref>Clare Boothe Luce, Address to the India League of America, August 9, 1943, Clare Boothe Luce Papers, Library of Congress (hereafter CBLP-LC).</ref>

Known as a charismatic and forceful public speaker, especially after her [[conversion to Catholicism]] in 1946, she campaigned for every Republican presidential candidate from [[Wendell Willkie]] to [[Ronald Reagan]].

==Early life==
Luce was born Ann Clare Boothe in New York City on March 10, 1903, <!-- see talk page re birthdate --> the second child of Anna Clara Schneider (also known as Ann Snyder Murphy, Ann Boothe, and Ann Clare Austin) and William Franklin Boothe (also known as "John J. Murphy" and "Jord Murfe").<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;15–32.</ref> Her parents were not married and would separate in 1912. Her father, a sophisticated man and a brilliant violinist,<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;17–18, 152–53.</ref> instilled in his daughter a love of literature, if not of music, but had trouble holding a job and spent years as a traveling salesman. Parts of young Clare's childhood were spent in Memphis and [[Nashville, Tennessee]], [[Chicago, Illinois]], and [[Union City, New Jersey]] as well as [[New York City]].<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;29–42.</ref> Clare Boothe had an elder brother, David Franklin Boothe.

[[File:Clare Boothe Luce cph.3b02741.jpg|thumb|left|Clare Boothe as a young socialite in the 1920s]]
She attended the cathedral schools in [[Garden City, New York|Garden City]] and [[Tarrytown, New York]], graduating first in her class in 1919 at 16.<ref>{{cite book |title=Clare Boothe Luce, Author and Diplomat |first=Joseph |last=Lyons |publisher=[[Chelsea House]] |year=1989 |page=26}}</ref> Her ambitious mother's initial plan for her was to become an actress. Clare understudied [[Mary Pickford]] on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] at age 10, and had her Broadway debut in Mrs. Henry B. Harris' production of "The Dummy" in 1914, a detective comedy. She then had a small part in Thomas Edison's 1915 movie, ''The Heart of a Waif''.<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;49–52.</ref> After a tour of Europe with her mother and stepfather, [[Dr. Albert E. Austin]], whom Ann Boothe married in 1919, she became interested in the [[women's suffrage]] movement, and she was hired by [[Alva Belmont]] to work for the [[National Woman's Party]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] and [[Seneca Falls, New York]].<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;110–14, 120–21.</ref>

She wed [[George Tuttle Brokaw]], millionaire heir to a New York clothing fortune, on August 10, 1923, at the age of 20. They had one daughter, Ann Clare Brokaw (1924–1944) who was killed in a car accident. According to Boothe, Brokaw was a hopeless [[alcoholic]], and the marriage ended in divorce on May 20, 1929.<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;130–31, 146–48.</ref>

On November 23, 1935, she married [[Henry Luce]], the publisher of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', and ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''. She thereafter called herself Clare Boothe Luce, a frequently misspelled name that was often confused with that of her exact contemporary [[Claire Luce]], a stage and film actress. As a professional writer, Luce continued to use her maiden name.

In 1939 she commissioned [[Frida Kahlo]] to paint a portrait of the late [[Dorothy Hale]]. Kahlo produced ''[[Dorothy Hale#Frida Kahlo painting|The Suicide Of Dorothy Hale]]''. Luce was appalled and almost destroyed it; however, [[Isamu Noguchi]] dissuaded her. Luce later anonymously donated the painting to the [[Phoenix Art Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herrera |first=Hayden |title=Frida, a biography of Frida Kahlo |date=1983 |publisher=Harper and Row |isbn=978-0-06-011843-3 |location=New York |page=290 (footnote)}}</ref>

On January 11, 1944, her only child, Ann Clare Brokaw, a 19-year-old senior at [[Stanford University]], was killed in an automobile accident.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/12/archives/ann-brokaw-dies-in-auto-collision-daughter-of-clare-boothe-luce.html "Ann Brokaw Dies in Auto Collision"], ''The New York Times'', January 12, 1944. Accessed August 2, 2009.</ref> As a result of the tragedy, Luce explored [[psychotherapy]] and religion. After grief counseling with Bishop [[Fulton Sheen]], she was received into the [[Catholic Church]] in 1946.<ref>''The New York Times'', February 17, 1946.</ref> She became an ardent essayist and lecturer in celebration of her faith, and she was ultimately honored by being named a [[Dame of Malta]]. As a memorial to her daughter, beginning in 1949 she funded the construction of a Catholic church in [[Palo Alto]] for use by the Stanford campus ministry. The new Saint Ann Chapel was dedicated in 1951. It was sold by the diocese in 1998 and in 2003 became a church of the [[Anglican Province of Christ the King]].<ref name="A Spiritual Home Finds Salvation">[http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2003/julaug/show/heritage.html "A Spiritual Home Finds Salvation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402034813/http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2003/julaug/show/heritage.html |date=April 2, 2012 }}, ''[[Stanford Magazine]]'', July/August 2006. Accessed August 2, 2009.  Ann Brokaw graduated cum laude from [[Foxcroft School]] in Middleburg, Virginia at the age of 17 and went to Stanford University as a way to see the western United States. {{cite book | last = Hatch, Alden | author-link = Alden R. Hatch | title = Ambassador Extraordinary | publisher = Holt and Company | year = 1956 | location = New York | url = https://archive.org/stream/ambassadorextrao017753mbp/ambassadorextrao017753mbp_djvu.txt }}  While at Stanford she was a member of the [[Kappa Kappa Gamma]] sorority.</ref>

==Marriage to Henry Luce==
The marriage between Clare and Henry was difficult. Henry was by any standard extremely successful, but his physical awkwardness, lack of humor, and newsman's discomfort with any conversation that was not strictly factual put him in awe of his beautiful wife's social poise, wit, and fertile imagination.<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;284–85, 306–08, 357–64.</ref> Clare's years as managing editor of ''[[Vanity Fair (American magazine 1913–1936)|Vanity Fair]]'' left her with an avid interest in journalism (she suggested the idea of ''Life'' magazine to her husband before it was developed internally).<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;283–84, 291.</ref> Henry himself was generous in encouraging her to write for ''Life'', but the question of how much coverage she should be accorded in ''Time'', as she grew more famous, was always a careful balancing act for Henry since he did not want to be accused of nepotism.

It has been reported that their marriage was sexually "open".<ref>Nasah, David 2012 ''Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy'' Penguin</ref> Clare Luce's lovers included Ambassador [[Joseph P. Kennedy]], [[Randolph Churchill]], General [[Lucian Truscott]], General [[Charles A. Willoughby|Charles Willoughby]],<ref>Morris, Sylvia Jukes 2014 ''Price of Fame: The Honorable Clare Boothe Luce'' Random House</ref> and [[Roald Dahl]].

Joseph P. Kennedy was the father of several United States politicians. Clare Luce at times provided advice to the campaigns of [[John F. Kennedy]], who became the 35th U.S. president.

Dahl, who became a very successful author after the war, was at the time a young RAF fighter pilot, temporarily assigned to Washington. He was part of a plan developed by spymaster [[William Stephenson|Sir William Stephenson]] (code name "Intrepid"), intended to weaken American isolationist thinking by influencing, among others, American journalists and politicians. Dahl was
{{blockquote|instructed to romance Clare, who was thirteen years his senior, to see if, with the right kind of encouragement, she could warm to the British position.}}
The very tall (6'6") and athletic Dahl later claimed he found his affair with Clare to be so physically demanding that he had begged the British ambassador to relieve him of the task, but the ambassador told him he must continue.<ref>Jennet Conant. ''The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington''. Simon & Schuster. New York. 2008. pp. 120–121</ref>

In the early 1960s, both Luces were friends of philosopher, author, and [[LSD]] advocate [[Gerald Heard]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geraldheard.com/bio2.htm|title=Gerald Heard – The official Gerald Heard Website|access-date=January 18, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928144720/http://geraldheard.com/bio2.htm|archive-date=September 28, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> They tried LSD one time under his careful supervision. Although taking LSD never turned into a habit for either of the Luces, a friend (and biographer of Clare), [[Wilfred Sheed]], wrote that Clare made use of it at least several times.<ref>Sheed, Wilfred 1982 ''Clare Boothe Luce''. Berkley: New York, p. 125</ref>

The Luces stayed together until Henry's death from a heart attack in 1967. As one of the great "power couples" in American history, they were bonded by their mutual interests and complementary, if contrasting, characters. They treated each other with respect in public, never more so than when he willingly acted as his wife's consort during her years as ambassador to Italy. She was never able to convert him to Catholicism (he was the son of a Presbyterian missionary) but he did not question the sincerity of her faith, often attended Mass with her, and defended her when she was criticized by his fellow Protestants.

In the early years of her widowhood, she retired to the luxurious beach house that she and her husband had planned in Honolulu, but boredom with life in what she called "this fur-lined rut"<ref>Sylvia Jukes Morris, "In Search of Clare Boothe Luce", ''The New York Times Magazine'', January 31, 1988.</ref> brought her back to [[Washington, D.C.]] for increasingly long periods. She made her final home there in 1983.

==Writing career==
[[File:Poster - Women, The 01.jpg|thumb|Poster from the 1939 film ''[[The Women (1939 film)|The Women]]'']]
Luce published ''Stuffed Shirts'', a volume of short stories, in 1931. ''[[Scribner's Magazine]]'' compared the work to [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s ''Vile Bodies'' for its bitter humor. ''[[The New York Times]]'' found it socially superficial, but praised its "lovely festoons of epigrams" and beguiling stylishness: "What malice there may be in these pages has a felinity that is the purest [[Turkish Angora|Angoran]]."<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;188–89.</ref> The book's device of characters interlinked from story to story was borrowed from [[Sherwood Anderson]]'s ''[[Winesburg, Ohio (novel)|Winesburg, Ohio]]'' (1919), but it impressed [[Andre Maurois]], who asked Luce's permission to imitate it.<ref>Morris 1997, p. 182.</ref> Luce also published many magazine articles. She was also a playwright.

After the failure of her initial stage effort, the marital melodrama ''Abide With Me'' (1935), she rapidly followed up with a satirical comedy, ''[[The Women (play)|The Women]]''. Deploying a cast of no fewer than 40 actresses who discussed men in often scorching language, it became a Broadway smash in 1936 and, three years later, a successful Hollywood movie known for its exclusively female cast. Toward the end of her life, Luce claimed that for half a century, she had steadily received royalties from productions of ''The Women'' all around the world. Later in the 1930s, she wrote two more successful, but less durable plays, also both made into movies: ''Kiss the Boys Goodbye'' and ''[[Margin for Error (play)|Margin for Error]]''. The latter work "presented an all-out attack on the [[Nazism|Nazis]]' racist philosophy".<ref>Lyons (1989), ''Clare Boothe Luce, Author and Diplomat'', p.&nbsp;61.</ref> Its opening night in [[Princeton, New Jersey]], on October 14, 1939, was attended by [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Thomas Mann]]. [[Otto Preminger]] directed and starred in both the Broadway production and [[Margin for Error|screen adaptation]].<ref>Morris 1997, pp. 351–55, 368.</ref>

Much of Luce's famously acid wit ("No good deed goes unpunished",<ref>The famous quip was first quoted in print by Luce's social secretary [[Letitia Baldrige]] in ''Roman Candle'' (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1956), 129: "When I would entreat her to engage in resolving a specific case, she replied, 'No good deed goes unpunished, Tish, remember that.{{'"}} Oscar Wilde, Billy Wilder, and Andrew W. Mellon have also been cited as sources, but without written evidence.</ref> "Widowhood is a fringe benefit of marriage", "A hospital is no place to be sick") can be traced back to the days when, as a wealthy young divorcee in the early 1930s, she became a caption writer at ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' and then, associate editor and managing editor of [[Vanity Fair (American magazine 1913-1936)|''Vanity Fair'']]. She not only edited the works of such humorists as [[P. G. Wodehouse]] and [[Corey Ford]] but also contributed many comic pieces of her own, signed and unsigned.

[[File:Luce and Sheks.jpg|thumb|left|General [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and [[Soong Mei-ling|Madame Chiang]] welcome Clare Boothe Luce, April 1942.]]
Another branch of Luce's literary career was that of [[War reporting|war journalism]]. ''Europe in the Spring'' was the result of a four-month tour of Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and France in 1939–1940 as a correspondent for ''Life'' magazine. She described the widening battleground of World War II as "a world where men have decided to die together because they are unable to find a way to live together."<ref name=Front >{{cite web|title=Women Come to Front: Journalist, Photographers and Broadcaster During WWII|date=July 27, 2010|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0010.html|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=May 30, 2012}}</ref>

In 1941, Luce and her husband toured [[China]] and reported on the status of the country and its war with [[Japan]]. Her profile of General [[Douglas MacArthur]] was on the cover of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked [[Pearl Harbor attack|Pearl Harbor]]. After the United States entered the war, Luce toured military installations in Africa, India, China, and [[Burma]], compiling a further series of reports for ''Life''. She published interviews with General [[Harold Alexander]], commander of British troops in the Middle East, [[Chiang Kai-shek]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], and General [[Joseph Warren Stilwell|Stilwell]], commander of American troops in the China-Burma-India theater.<ref name="Front"/>

Being in the right place at the right time and easy access to key commanders made her an influential figure on both sides of the Atlantic. She endured bombing raids and other dangers in Europe and the [[Far East]]. She did not hesitate to criticize the unwarlike lifestyle of General Sir [[Claude Auchinleck]]'s Middle East Command. One draft article for ''Life'', noting that the general lived far from the Egyptian front in a houseboat, and mocking RAF pilots as "flying fairies", was discovered by British Customs when she passed through [[Trinidad]] in April 1942. It caused such Allied consternation that she briefly faced house arrest.<ref>Morris 1997, p. 458.</ref> Coincidentally or not, Auchinleck was fired a few months later by [[Winston Churchill]]. Her varied experiences in all the major war theaters qualified her for a seat the following year on the House Military Affairs Committee after she was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1942.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

Luce never wrote an autobiography but willed her enormous archive of personal papers to the [[Library of Congress]].<ref>Library of Congress, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms003044</ref>

==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>}}

==Death==
Luce died of [[brain cancer]] on October 9, 1987, at age 84, at her [[Watergate complex|Watergate]] apartment in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 9, 1987 |title=Clare Boothe Luce, one of America's most versatile and... |language=en |work=United Press International |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/10/09/Clare-Boothe-Luce-one-of-Americas-most-versatile-and/7882560750400/ |access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref> She is buried at [[Mepkin Abbey]], [[South Carolina]], a plantation that she and Henry Luce had once owned and given to a community of [[Trappist]] monks. She lies in a grave adjoining her mother, daughter, and husband.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Brenner |first=Marie |date=March 1988 |title=Fast and Luce |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1988/03/clare-boothe-luce-profile |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US |issue=March |issn=0733-8899}}</ref>

==Legacy==

===Feminism===

Revered in her later years as a heroine of the feminist movement, Luce had mixed feelings about the role of women in society. As a congresswoman in 1943, she was invited to co-sponsor a submission of the [[Equal Rights Amendment]], offered by Representative [[Louis Ludlow]] of Indiana, but claimed that the invitation got lost in her mail.<ref>Bridgeport [CT] ''Herald'', February 28, 1943.</ref> Luce never ceased to advise women to marry and provide supportive homes for their husbands. (During her ambassadorial years, at a dinner in Luxembourg attended by many European dignitaries, Luce was heard declaiming that all women wanted from men was "babies and security".)<ref>C. L. Sulzberger, ''A Long Row of Candles'' (Macmillan, New York, 1969), 916.</ref> 

Luce bequeathed a large part of her personal fortune of some $50 million to an academic program, the Clare Boothe Luce Program, designed to encourage the entry of women into technological fields traditionally dominated by men. In 2017, she was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/ten-women-added-to-national-womens-hall-of-fame-in-seneca-falls/812712663 |title=Ten women added to National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca |publisher=Localsyr.com |date=September 17, 2017 |access-date=September 28, 2017}}</ref>

===Clare Boothe Luce Program===

Since 1989, the Clare Boothe Luce Program (CBLP) has become a significant source of private funding support for women in science, mathematics, and engineering. All awards must be used exclusively in the United States (not applicable for travel or study abroad). Student recipients must be U.S. citizens and faculty recipients must be citizens or permanent residents. Thus far, the program has supported more than 1,500 women.

The terms of the bequest require the following criteria:
# at least fifty percent of the awards go to Roman Catholic colleges, universities, and one high school ([[Villanova Preparatory School]])
# grants are made only to four-year degree-granting institutions, not directly to individuals

The program is divided into three distinct categories:
# undergraduate scholarships and research awards
# graduate and post-doctoral fellowships
# tenure-track appointment support at the assistant or associate professorship level<ref name="CBLgrants"/>

===Conservatism===

The [[Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute]] (CBLPI) was founded in 1993 by Michelle Easton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cblpi.org/about/|title=About – Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute|website=cblpi.org|access-date=August 30, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831065424/http://www.cblpi.org/about/|archive-date=August 31, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The non-profit [[think tank]] seeks to advance American women through conservative ideas and espouses much the same philosophy as that of Clare Boothe Luce, in terms of both foreign and domestic policy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cblpi.org/issues/|title=Issues – Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute|website=cblpi.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826231934/http://www.cblpi.org/issues/|archive-date=August 26, 2013}}</ref> The CBLPI sponsors a program that brings conservative speakers such as conservative commentator [[Ann Coulter]] to college campuses.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Righting Feminism: Conservative Women and American Politics|url=https://archive.org/details/rightingfeminism00schr|url-access=limited|last=Schreiber|first=Ronnee|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|page=[https://archive.org/details/rightingfeminism00schr/page/n32 22]|isbn=978-0-19-533181-3}}</ref>

The [[Clare Boothe Luce Award]], established in 1991, is [[the Heritage Foundation]]'s highest award for distinguished contributions to the conservative movement. Prominent recipients include [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Margaret Thatcher]], and [[William F. Buckley Jr.]]<ref name=Rankin>{{cite news|title=Heritage of conservatism is ongoing after 25 years|first=Margaret|last=Rankin |newspaper=[[The Washington Times]] |date=December 12, 1997}}</ref><ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Thatcher praises Blair's support for US|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2560767.stm|newspaper=BBC News|date=December 10, 2002|access-date=February 16, 2011}}</ref><ref name=Buckley>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/author/79808/bio|title=William F. Buckley Jr|date=May 18, 2006|publisher=National Review Online|access-date=February 16, 2011}}</ref>

==Publications==
;Plays
* 1935 ''[[Abide with Me (play)|Abide with Me]]''
* 1936 ''[[The Women (play)|The Women]]''
* 1938 ''[[Kiss the Boys Goodbye]]''
* 1939 ''[[Margin for Error (play)|Margin for Error]]''
* 1951 ''Child of the Morning''
* 1970 ''Slam the Door Softly''

;Screen Stories
* 1949 ''[[Come to the Stable]]''

;Books
* 1931 ''Stuffed Shirts''
* 1940 ''Europe in the Spring''
* 1952 ''Saints for Now'' (editor)

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Politics}}
* [[List of notable brain tumor patients]]
* [[Women in the United States House of Representatives]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?86638-1/rage-fame-ascent-clare-boothe-luce ''Booknotes'' interview with Sylvia Jukes Morris on ''Rage For Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce'', July 27, 1997], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?320053-1/qa-sylvia-morris ''Q&A'' interview with Morris on ''Price of Fame: The Honorable Clare Boothe Luce'', August 3, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?320720-1/price-fame Presentation by Morris on ''Price of Fame'', July 22, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Morris |first=Sylvia Jukes |author-link=Sylvia Jukes Morris |title=Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce |publisher=Random House |location=New York |year=1997 |isbn=978-0394575551 |url=https://archive.org/details/rageforfameascen00morr }}
* {{cite book |last=Morris |first=Sylvia Jukes |title=Price of Fame: The Honorable Clare Boothe Luce |publisher=Random House |location=New York |year=2014 |isbn=978-0679457114 |url=https://archive.org/details/priceoffamehonor0000morr }}
* {{cite book|last=Shadegg |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Shadegg| title=Clare Boothe Luce: A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/clarebootheluceb00shad |url-access=registration |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=1970 |isbn=978-0671206727}}
* {{cite book |last=Sheed |first=Wilfred |author-link=Wilfrid Sheed |title=Clare Boothe Luce |publisher=E. P. Dutton Publishers |location=New York |year=1982 |isbn=978-0525030553 |url=https://archive.org/details/clarebootheluce00shee }}
* Hamilton, Pamela (2021). Lady Be Good<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Pamela |title=Lady Be Good |publisher=Koehler Books |year=2021 |isbn=978-1646632725 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=16–265 |language=English}}</ref>

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{CongBio|l000497}}
* {{IMDb name|0524403}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{C-SPAN|24703}}
** [http://www.c-span.org/video/?86638-1/book-discussion-rage-fame-ascent-clare-boothe-luce ''Booknotes'' interview with Sylvia Jukes Morris on ''Rage For Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce'', July 27, 1997.]
**[http://www.c-span.org/video/?320053-1/qa-sylvia-morris ''Q&A'' interview with Morris on ''Price of Fame: The Honorable Clare Boothe Luce'', August 3, 2014.]
**[http://www.c-span.org/video/?320720-1/book-discussion-price-fame Discussion of ''Price of Fame'' with Morris and James Atlas, July 22, 2014]
* [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0010.html Library of Congress website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120518025520/http://www.hluce.org/cblprogram.aspx Henry Luce profile]
* [http://www.cblpi.org Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute website]
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95940|description="Longines Chronoscope with Clare Boothe Luce"}}
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95791|description="Longines Chronoscope with Clare Boothe Luce (October 24, 1952)"}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{succession box | title=Member of the [[US Congressional Delegations from Connecticut|U.S. House of Representatives]] from [[Connecticut's 4th congressional district]] | before=[[Le Roy D. Downs]]| after=[[John D. Lodge]]|years=1943–1947}}
{{s-dip}}
{{succession box|title=[[United States Ambassador to Italy]]|before=[[Ellsworth Bunker]]|after=[[James David Zellerbach]]|years=1953–1956}}
{{succession box|title=[[United States Ambassador to Brazil]]|before=Ellis O. Briggs| after=[[John M. Cabot]]|years=1959–1959}}
{{s-end}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{US Ambassadors to Italy}}
{{US Ambassadors to Brazil}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luce, Clare Boothe}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American diplomats]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Italy]]
[[Category:American anti-fascists]]
[[Category:American Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:American women ambassadors]]
[[Category:American women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:American women in politics]]
[[Category:American women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American Writers Association members]]
[[Category:Aphorists]]
[[Category:Catholics from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:Dames of Malta]]
[[Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Female critics of feminism]]
[[Category:Female members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Laetare Medal recipients]]
[[Category:People from Ridgefield, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Ward–Belmont College alumni]]
[[Category:Women in Connecticut politics]]
[[Category:Writers from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Writers from New York City]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]