Clare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman

257 Pages·2022·5.119 MB·English

by  Philip Nash

“As engaging as its subject, this fully-contextualized biography complicates
the life and thought of a multi-talented playwright, war correspondent,
diplomat, and partisan Republican. Philip Nash shows that the fight for
equal rights once enlisted conservatives like Clare Boothe Luce, a woman
who made the most of her beauty . . . and brains, who defied the limits of
domesticity even when touting its virtues.”
Eileen Boris, Hull Professor of Feminist Studies,
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
“In this masterful biography of one of the most influential and controversial
American women, Nash demonstrates the complexity and diversity of
American feminism. Contextualizing Clare Boothe Luce in the culture,
politics, and international diplomacy of the mid-twentieth century, this
balanced, entertaining, and yet deeply interpretive account is bound
to eclipse previous narratives of the leading feminist conservative.
Highlighting the importance of broadly as opposed to deeply experienced
figures—personalities who, like Clare Luce, mastered many fields rather
than excelling in one—Nash also delivers extraordinary analyses on gender,
politics, and transnational developments. This is biography at its best.”
Alessandro Brogi, University of Arkansas, USA, author of
Confronting America: The Cold War between the United States
and the Communists in France and Italy
“Philip Nash’s concise biography of Clare Booth Luce eloquently
and judiciously depicts the life of a pathbreaking, polarizing woman.
Harnessing archival records, an extensive secondary literature, and
Luce’s own formidable corpus, he deftly charts her life as a microcosm of
20th-century feminism and the American rise to world power. Taking us
from the theaters of Broadway, to the battlefields of the Second World War,
the halls of Congress, and the hothouse atmosphere of Fifties Rome, it is a
lively, compelling, and often startling read.”
Robert B. Rakove, Stanford University Program in International
Relations, USA, author of Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World
“Clare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman reignites scholarship
and refocuses biographers and women’s historians on this complex and
powerful American woman. Conducting new research and producing new
insights, Nash reframes the understudied Luce, a woman of formidable
charisma, intellect, and drive, as a vibrant force both at home and abroad
and a prominent figure in the rise of the American Century.”
Victoria Phillips, London School of Economics, UK, author of
Martha Graham’s Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy
“A remarkable book about a remarkable woman. Professor Nash provides a
vivid portrait of a complex personality, warts and all. And his book deftly
provides the context of the time, which enables one to understand the
challenges she faced and how much, or how little, gender progress we have
made. Must reading for anyone interested in the evolution of American
diplomacy and the role that political appointee ambassadors play in it.”
Ambassador (Ret.) Dennis C. Jett, author of American
Ambassadors: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Diplomats
“In his fascinating biography of Clare Boothe Luce, Philip Nash documents
her significance as a woman of force in the 20th century. Coming of
age a generation before conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly, Luce is often
overshadowed by her marriage to publishing mogul Henry Luce. Yet
there is far more to Luce than that. As Nash argues, Luce used her wits
and talents to break gender barriers, establishing herself as a paradoxical
conservative in both women’s rights and foreign policy. His work is an
important contribution to the history of women in the rise of American
conservatism.”
Linda Van Ingen, University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA,
author of Gendered Politics: Campaign Strategies of
California Women Candidates, 1912–1970
Clare Boothe Luce

Clare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman is a concise and highly
readable political biography that examines the life of one of the most
accomplished American women of the 20th century.
Wife and mother, author, editor, playwright, political activist, war
journalist, Congresswoman, ambassador, pundit, and feminist—Luce did
it all. Carefully placing Luce in a series of shifting historical contexts, this
book offers the reader an insight into mid-century American political,
cultural, gender, and foreign relations history. Eleven primary sources
follow the text, including excerpts from Luce’s diary, letters, speeches,
and published works, as well as a TV talk-show appearance and a critic’s
diary entry describing an evening with her, helping readers to understand
her fascinating life. Together, the narrative and documents afford readers
a brief yet in-depth look at Luce with all her complications: glamorous
intellectual, acid-tongued diplomat, and feminist conservative, she was
a deeply flawed high-achiever who repeatedly challenged the entrenched
sexism of her age to become a significant actor in the rise of the “American
Century.”
Addressing the neglect suffered by women in foreign relations history,
this will be of interest to students and scholars of US foreign relations,
20th-century US history, and US women’s history.
Philip Nash is Associate Professor of History at Penn State Shenango,
USA, where he has won three teaching awards. He is also author of
Breaking Protocol: America’s First Female Ambassadors, 1933–1964 (2020)
and is a frequent guest on the “Professor Buzzkill” history podcast (at
professorbuzzkill.com).
Routledge Historical Americans
Series Editor: Paul Finkelman
Routledge Historical Americans is a series of short, vibrant biographies
that illuminate the lives of Americans who have had an impact on the
world. Each book includes a short overview of the person’s life and puts
that person into historical context through essential primary documents,
written both by the subjects and about them. A series website supports the
books, containing extra images and documents, links to further research,
and where possible, multi-media sources on the subjects. Perfect for
including in any course on American History, the books in the Routledge
Historical Americans series show the impact everyday people can have on
the course of history.
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John M. Belohlavek
Patrick Henry: Proclaiming a Revolution
John A. Ragosta
Ida B. Wells: Social Reformer and Activist
Kristina DuRocher
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and the French New World
Laura Chmielewski
Joe Louis: Sports and Race in Twentieth-Century America
Marcy S. Sacks
Henry Kissinger: Pragmatic Statesman in Hostile Times
Abraham R. Wagner
Theodore Roosevelt: A Manly President’s Gendered Personal and

Political Transformations

Neil H. Cogan
Elie Wiesel: Humanist Messenger for Peace
Alan L. Berger
Clare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman
Philip Nash
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com
Clare Boothe Luce
American Renaissance Woman
PHILIP NASH
Cover image: Clare Boothe Luce © Alpha Historica / Alamy Stock Photo
First published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Taylor & Francis
The right of Philip Nash to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
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registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nash, Philip, author.
Title: Clare Boothe Luce : American renaissance woman / Philip Nash.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. | Series: Routledge historical Americans |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021048015 (print) | LCCN 2021048016 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367407353
(hardback) | ISBN 9780367407339 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367808808 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Luce, Clare Boothe, 1903–1987. | United States—Politics
and government—20th century. | Ambassadors—United States—Biography. |
Legislators—United States—Biography. | Dramatists, American—20th century—Biography. |
Journalists—United States—Biography.
Classification: LCC E748.L894 N37 2022 (print) | LCC E748.L894 (ebook) |
DDC 996.9/3041092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021048015
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021048016
ISBN: 978-0-367-40735-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-40733-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-80880-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780367808808
Typeset in Minion
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To two outstanding scholars and mentors
Martin J. Sherwin
John Lewis Gaddis
9
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
http:// taylo ra ndfra ncis.com
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Preface xiii
PART I
Clare Boothe Luce 1
Chapter 1 Early Years, 1903–29 3
Chapter 2 Editor and Playwright, 1929–39 17
Chapter 3 War Journalist and Political Activist, 1939–42 47
Chapter 4 Politician, 1943–52 79
Chapter 5 Ambassador, 1953–56 125
Chapter 6 Pundit and Republican Grande Dame, 1957–87 153
Conclusion 181
PART II
Documents 187
Bibliography 228
Index 239