Clare Booth Luce

Ann Clare Boothe Luce was an American author, politician, U.S. Ambassador (Brazil and Italy) and public conservative figure. She was the first American woman appointed to a major ambassadorial post abroad. She served as a United States congresswoman from the 4th district in Connecticut from 1943 - 1947.

A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play The Women, which had an all-female cast.

Her writings extended from drama and screen scenarios to fiction, journalism and war reportage. She was the wife of Henry Luce, publisher of Time, Life, 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 critic of Roosevelt. Although she was a strong supporter of the Anglo-American alliance in World War II, she remained outspokenly critical of British colonialism in India.

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

Luce passed away from brain cancer on October 9, 1987 at the age of eighty-four.