Clare Boothe Luce

Clare Boothe Luce (April 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American editor, playwright, social activist, politician, journalist, and diplomat. Witty, perceptive and determined, she was also a prominent figure in New York society.

Political career

In 1942, Luce won a Republican seat in the United States House of Representatives representing Fairfield County, the Fourth Congressional District of Connecticut. She filled the seat formerly held by her late step-father, Dr. Austin. An outspoken critic of the Democratic President's foreign policy, Luce won the respect of the ultraconservative isolationists in Congress and received an appointment to the Military Affairs Committee. However, her voting record was generally more moderate, siding with the administration on issues such as funding for American troops and aid to war victims. Luce won reelection to a second term in the House in 1944 and was instrumental in the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission and began warning against the growing threat of international Communism.

Related Topics:
Republican - House of Representatives - Fairfield County - Connecticut - Atomic Energy Commission - Communism

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Luce returned to politics during the 1952 presidential election, when she campaigned on behalf of Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower. Luce's support was rewarded with an appointment as ambassador to Italy, confirmed by the senate in March 1953. As ambassador, Luce addressed the issue of anticommunism and the Italian labor movement and helped to settle the dispute between Italy and what was then Yugoslavia over the United Nations territorial lines in Trieste. Not long afterward, Luce fell seriously ill with arsenic poisoning caused by paint chips falling from the stucco that decorated her bedroom ceiling, and was forced to resign in 1956.

Related Topics:
Dwight Eisenhower - Ambassador - Italy - Anticommunism - Labor movement - Yugoslavia - Trieste - Arsenic poisoning

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Luce maintained her association with the ultraconservative wing of the Republican party. She was well known for her anti-Communist views, as well as her advocacy of fiscal conservatism. In 1964, she supported Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, the Republican candidate for president, and considered a candidacy for the United States Senate from New York on the Conservative party ticket. However, also in 1964, "Harry" Luce retired as editor-in-chief of TIME and Luce joined him by retiring from public life.

Related Topics:
Barry Goldwater - United States Senate - Conservative party - 1964

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In 1981, newly inaugurated President Ronald Reagan appointed Luce to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. She served on the board until 1983, the year President Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Related Topics:
1981 - Ronald Reagan - President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board - 1983 - Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Clare Boothe Luce died of brain cancer on October 9, 1987, at the age of 84 in her Watergate apartment in Washington D.C..

Related Topics:
Brain cancer - October 9 - 1987 - Watergate - Washington D.C.

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