Clare Boothe Luce

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Gwen Outen with People in America in VOA Special English.
Today we tell about a woman who became famous for her activities in
government, the media and the arts. She was a member of Congress and
an ambassador. She was a news reporter and magazine editor. And she
wrote plays. Her name was Clare Boothe Luce.

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VOICE ONE:

Clare Boothe Luce was one of the
most influential women in modern American history. Yet she came from
simple roots. She was born in New York City in nineteen-oh-three.
Clare's father was a musician and businessman. Her mother had been a
dancer.

While Clare was a girl, her parents ended their marriage. She and
her brother stayed with their mother. Their mother did not have a
lot of money. Yet she was able to send Clare to very good schools.
Her mother then married a doctor from Connecticut. Clare's
stepfather, Albert Austin, later served in the United States House
of Representatives.

VOICE TWO:

As a young woman, Clare Boothe was known for her intelligence and
good looks. She met her first husband through a family friend.
George Tuttle Brokaw was a wealthy man. He also was more than twenty
years older than Clare. They were married in nineteen-twenty-three
and had one child – a daughter. However, her husband had a problem
with alcoholic drinks. Their marriage ended after only six years.

Clare developed a serious interest in writing. In
nineteen-thirty, a friend, the magazine publisher Conde Nast,
offered her a job. She wrote comments for pictures published in
Vogue, a magazine for women about clothes and fashion. A short time
later, she accepted a job at other magazine, Vanity Fair. She wrote
reports about social events and famous people in New York. Later
these reports were published in a book.

VOICE ONE:

Clare Boothe became a top editor at Vanity Fair. She worked there
until nineteen-thirty-four. By then, she was also writing plays. One
play was called "Abide With Me." It was about a man who mistreats
his wife. "Abide With Me" opened in a theater on Broadway in New
York City in nineteen-thirty-five. Critics hated it.

Two days after the show opened, Clare Boothe married Henry
Robinson Luce. He was a famous and important magazine publisher. He
published Time and Fortune magazines. She had first met Henry Luce
at a party in New York. At the time, he was married and had two
children. He and Clare were married a short time after a court order
canceled his first marriage. They would stay together for more than
thirty years.

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VOICE TWO:

Clare Boothe Luce returned to writing plays. Her second play,
"The Women," made fun of rich women. It opened on Broadway in
nineteen-thirty-six. The show was very popular. It was later made
into a movie. Another play, "Kiss the Boys Goodbye," also was a
success. So was her next play, "Margin For Error." All three plays
were noted for their use of sharp language and making fun of human
failings.

Clare Boothe Luce was known for expressing her opinions. Her most
famous saying was: "No good deed goes unpunished." She often spoke
about the problems of women trying to succeed in a world mainly
controlled by men. She said: "Because I am a woman, I must make
unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't
have what it takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it
takes." She made these comments in a speech to the National Press
Club in Washington, D.C.

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We women are supposed to be a minority. I've never understood
that myself because we outnumber the men in actual numbers, and we
live five years longer. So I've never felt like a minority because,
as you know, minorities are never supposed to say anything unkind
about one another.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-forty, Clare Boothe Luce traveled to Europe as a
reporter for Life magazine, which was published by her husband. She
visited a number of countries and later wrote reports about how
people were dealing with World War Two. She wrote a book about this
called "Europe in Spring." In the book, she noted that people were
living in "a world where men have decided to die together because
they are unable to find a way to live together. She also reported
from Africa, China, India and Burma for Life magazine.

In nineteen-forty-two, her stepfather, Albert Austin, died.
Missus Luce agreed to be the Republican Party candidate for his seat
in the House of Representatives from Connecticut. She was elected
and entered Congress in January, nineteen-forty-three.

Missus Luce was a political conservative. She spoke against the
administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She criticized
the Roosevelt administration's foreign policy. She said it failed to
supervise the war effort.

VOICE TWO:

A tragic event affected Clare Boothe Luce in nineteen-forty-four.
Her nineteen-year-old daughter Ann was killed in an automobile
accident. Missus Luce experienced severe emotional problems. She
sought help from a number of people, including a Roman Catholic
clergyman, the Reverend Fulton J. Sheen. At the time, he was
becoming known for his radio broadcasts.

Missus Luce demanded to know why God had taken her daughter.
Reverend Sheen said the young woman had died so that her mother
could learn about the meaning of life.

Missus Luce recovered and returned to Congress. She remained
popular among the voters of Connecticut and was re-elected to a
second term in office. However, she did not seek re-election in
nineteen-forty-six. Missus Luce said she wanted to spend more time
with her husband. She also became a member of the Roman Catholic
Church.

Missus Luce returned to writing. She also edited a book about
people considered holy by the Roman Catholic Church.

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VOICE ONE:

Clare Boothe Luce criticized the spread of Communism after World
War Two. In nineteen-fifty-two, she supported the Republican Party's
candidate for president, former General Dwight Eisenhower. He won
the election and appointed Missus Luce as ambassador to Italy. She
became one of the first American women to serve in a major
diplomatic position. Missus Luce served as the ambassador until
nineteen-fifty-six. She left Rome after becoming sick with arsenic
poisoning caused by paint particles in her bedroom.

VOICE TWO:

Three years later, President Eisenhower nominated Missus Luce as
ambassador to Brazil. Most members of the United States Senate
supported her nomination. However, some senators were opposed. Among
them was Wayne Morse, a Democrat from Oregon.

The Senate approved Missus Luce as the new ambassador. After the
debate, she said that Senator Morse's actions were the result of him
being "kicked in the head by a horse." Many Democrats criticized her
comment. A few days later she resigned as ambassador.

VOICE ONE:

Missus Luce remained active in politics. In nineteen-sixty-four,
she supported Senator Barry Goldwater as the Republican Party's
candidate for president. She also announced plans to be the
Conservative Party candidate for the Senate from New York. However,
Republican leaders disapproved and she withdrew from the race.

VOICE ONE:

Clare Boothe Luce retired from public life. She and her husband
moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Henry Luce died there in
nineteen-sixty-seven. He was sixty-eight years old.

Missus Luce moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. She lived there until the
early nineteen-eighties. During that period, she served as an
advisor to three presidents. She was a member of the President' s
Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Then Missus Luce moved to Washington, D.C. In
nineteen-eighty-three, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. That is the highest honor a president
can give to an American citizen.

Clare Boothe Luce had a long battle with cancer. She died at her
home in nineteen-eighty-seven. She was eighty-four years old. She
was buried near the remains of her husband in the state of South
Carolina.

Experts said Clare Boothe Luce had enough important jobs in
government, the media and the arts to satisfy several women. She was
often on the list of the ten most important and admired women in the
world.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written by George Grow. Lawan Davis was our
producer. I'm Gwen Outen.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week for People in America
in VOA Special English.

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