Editing Henry Luce

{{short description|American magazine publisher (1898–1967)}}
{{for|his father, the missionary and educator|Henry W. Luce}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use American English|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| image       = Henry Luce 1954.jpg
| caption     = Luce in 1954
| birth_name  = Henry Robinson Luce
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1898|04|03}}
| birth_place = [[Penglai, Shandong|Tengchow]], [[Qing dynasty|China]]
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1967|02|28|1898|04|03}}
| death_place = [[Phoenix, Arizona]], U.S.
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Lila Ross Hotz|1923|1935|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Clare Boothe Luce]]<br>|1935|}}
}}
| children    = 3
| parents     = [[Henry W. Luce]]
| occupation  = Publisher, journalist
| alma_mater  = [[Yale University]]
| party       = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
}}

'''Henry Robinson Luce''' (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'', and ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America of his day".<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Edwin Herzstein|title=Henry R. Luce, Time, and the American Crusade in Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fb30H5d_jZkC&pg=PA1|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge U.P.|page=1|isbn=9780521835770}}</ref>

Born in [[Shandong]], China, to parents from the United States who were serving as [[Presbyterian]] [[missionaries]], Luce moved to the US at the age of 15 and later attended [[Yale University]]. He launched and closely supervised a stable of magazines that transformed journalism and the reading habits of millions of Americans. ''Time'' summarized and interpreted the week's news; ''Life'' was a picture magazine of politics, culture, and society that dominated American visual perceptions in the era before television; ''Fortune'' reported on national and international business; and ''Sports Illustrated'' explored the world of sports. 

Counting his [[The March of Time|radio projects and newsreels]], Luce created the first multimedia corporation. He envisaged that the United States would achieve world hegemony, and in 1941 he declared the 20th century would be the "[[American Century]]".<ref>Editorial (1941-02-17) The American Century, Life Magazine</ref><ref name="Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media">{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/henry-luce/henry-r-luce-and-the-rise-of-the-american-news-media/650/ | title=Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media | publisher=American Masters (PBS) | date=April 28, 2004 | access-date=19 June 2014 | author=Baughman, James L.}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Luce was born in Tengchow, [[Shandong]], [[Qing dynasty|China]], now [[Penglai, Shandong|Penglai]], on April 3, 1898, the son of Elizabeth Root Luce and [[Henry W. Luce|Henry Winters Luce]], who was a [[Presbyterian]] missionary.<ref name="Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media"/>

At 15, he was sent to the U.S. to attend the [[Hotchkiss School]] in Connecticut, where he tried hard to overcome his stuttering.  As a scholarship student he was isolated from the upper-class boys. He was subsidized by an elderly Chicago heiress, [[Nancy Fowler McCormick]], who favored sons of missionaries.  Applying himself to study, Luce quickly became the top student. He was especially strong in languages, studying Greek, Latin, French, and German, and already knowing Chinese. He edited the ''Hotchkiss Literary Monthly''.<ref>Brinkley, ''The Publisher: Henry Luce and his American Century'' (2010) p. 35.</ref> There, he first met [[Briton Hadden]]; they became best friends.<ref name="Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media"/>

Hotchkiss was a feeder prep school for [[Yale University]]. After a summer spent working on a Springfield newspaper, Luce matriculated in the fall of 1916. He was the top freshman academically, but grades did not confer as much prestige as a staff role on the ''[[Yale Daily News]]''. Only four freshmen were chosen by the ''News''; they included Luce and Hadden.<ref>Brinkley, pp. 54-57.</ref> When the U.S. entered [[World War I]] in 1917, a third of the students joined the army; the rest, including Luce, joined the [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps|Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC)]] and attended class in uniform. 

Luce also joined Alpha Delta, a minor fraternity. His grades remained top-level, and every spare hour was devoted to newspaper work. Luce and Hadden were the two outstanding journalists; when the vote came in January 1918 for chairmanship of the ''News,'' Hadden beat Luce by one vote. Luce instead became managing editor and the two worked closely together and started planning their future.  Meanwhile, the Army assigned them as ROTC leaders to train new recruits. The war ended before either was commissioned. 

In January 1919, Luce and Hadden returned to Yale University as juniors. In May 1919, they were both tapped into the prestigious [[Skull and Bones]] secret society. Luce tried, but failed, to win a [[Rhodes Scholarship]] to the [[University of Oxford]], but he was admitted to the university and paid his way. He spent the year travelling Europe, observing the post-World War I scene closely. He returned to the United States to take a newspaper job in [[Chicago]] as a junior reporter.<ref>Brinkley, pp. 61–63, 70–83.</ref>

==Career==
Nightly discussions of the concept of a news magazine led Luce and Hadden, both age 23, to quit their jobs in 1922. Later that same year, they partnered with [[Robert Livingston Johnson]] and another Yale classmate to form [[Time Inc.]]<ref name="Emerald1962">{{cite magazine|last=Warburton|first=Albert|date=Winter 1962|volume=48|number=4|magazine=The Emerald of Sigma Pi|title=Robert L. Johnson Hall Dedicated at Temple University|pages=111|url=http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1962/SP_Emerald_VOL_48_NO_4_WINTER_1962.pdf|access-date=October 13, 2016|archive-date=September 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915082411/http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1962/SP_Emerald_VOL_48_NO_4_WINTER_1962.pdf|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Luce, supported by editor-in-chief [[T. S. Matthews]], appointed [[Whittaker Chambers]] as acting Foreign News editor in 1944, despite the feuds that Chambers had with reporters in the field.<ref>Brinkley, ''The Publisher: Henry Luce and his American Century'' (2010) pp. 322–93</ref>

Luce, who remained editor-in-chief of all his publications until 1964, maintained a position as an influential member of the [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican Party]].<ref name=Time-Obit-1967-03-10>[https://archive.today/20130105003801/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,836722,00.html "Henry R. Luce: End of a Pilgrimage"].  ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''.  March 10, 1967</ref> An instrumental figure behind the so-called "[[China Lobby]]", he played a large role in steering American foreign policy and popular sentiment in favor of [[Kuomintang]] leader [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and his wife, [[Soong Mei-ling]], in their war against the Japanese. (The Chiangs appeared in the cover of ''Time'' eleven times between 1927 and 1955.)<ref name="Time Magizine search">{{cite magazine | url=http://search.time.com/results.html?N=46&Ntt=Chiang | title=Time magazine historical search | magazine=Time | access-date=19 June 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630081514/http://search.time.com/results.html?N=46&Ntt=Chiang | archive-date=30 June 2012 }}</ref>

Luce authored an editorial for ''Life'' in 1941, titled "[[The American Century]]", in which he defined the role of U.S. foreign policy for the remainder of the 20th century.<ref name=Time-Obit-1967-03-10 />

==Personal life==
[[Image:THU Luce Memorial Chapel.jpg|thumb|The [[Luce Memorial Chapel]] at [[Tunghai University]] in [[Taiwan]]]]
Luce met his first wife, Lila Hotz, while he was studying at [[Yale University]] in 1919.<ref name=LilaHotz>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/03/nyregion/lila-luce-tyng-100-first-wife-of-henry-r-luce.html |title=Lila Luce Tyng, 100, First Wife of Henry R. Luce |first=Nick |last=Ravo |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 3, 1999 |access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref> They married in 1923 and had two children, Peter Paul and Henry Luce III, before divorcing in 1935.<ref name=LilaHotz/> 

In 1935, he married his second wife, [[Clare Boothe Luce]], who had an 11-year-old daughter, [[Ann Clare Brokaw]], whom he raised as his own. 

Luce died of a [[coronary occlusion]] on February 28, 1967 in [[Phoenix, Arizona]]. He was 68.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://time.com/archive/6630572/nation-henry-r-luce-end-of-a-pilgrimage/#:~:text=On%20the%2044th%20anniversary%20of,He%20was%2068 | title=Nation: HENRY R. LUCE: End of a Pilgrimage | date=March 10, 1967 }}</ref> At his death, he was said to be worth $100 million in Time Inc. stock.<ref>{{cite magazine| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HecCAAAAMBAJ&q=Henry+Luce++%24100+million+in+Time+Inc.+stock&pg=PA93 |title=Why the Power Vacuum at Time Inc. Continues|author= Edwin Diamond|magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date = October 23, 1972}}</ref> Most of his fortune went to the Henry Luce Foundation.<ref name="LilaHotz" />

==Legacy==
He was honored by the [[United States Postal Service]] with a 32¢ [[Great Americans series]] (1980–2000) postage stamp.<ref>{{Cite news| url =http://usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=42704f6c73679f11b3d8dee5a6b4a647de266c45 |title=Henry R. Luce|publisher=US Stamp Gallery |date = April 3, 1998}}</ref> Luce was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|title=Appendix O- National Business Hall of Fame Laureates|url=https://www.juniorachievement.org/documents/20009/2737219/HistoryK-O.PDF|access-date=30 December 2019|website=Junior Achievement Inc.|archive-date=August 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810165810/https://www.juniorachievement.org/documents/20009/2737219/HistoryK-O.PDF|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Henry Luce Foundation ==
The [[Henry Luce Foundation]], Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization incorporated in [[New York (state)|New York]]. It was established in 1936 by Henry Luce in his thirties. His son Henry III served as its chairman and chief executive for many years.<ref name="LilaHotz" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} The Henry Luce Foundation |url=https://www.hluce.org/about/history/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.hluce.org}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Baughman, James L.]] "Henry R. Luce and the Business of Journalism". ''Business & Economic History On-Line'' 9 (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20150402200758/http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHonline/2011/baughman.pdf online]
* [[Baughman, James L.]] ''Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media'' (2001) [https://archive.org/details/henryrluceris00baug online]
* Brinkley, Alan. ''The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century'', (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010) 531 pp. [https://archive.org/details/publisherhenrylu0000brin_o9p4 online]
** [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/books/20book.html "A Magazine Master Builder"] Book review by [[Janet Maslin]], ''The New York Times'', April 19, 2010
* Brinkley, Alan. ''What Would Henry Luce Make of the Digital Age?'', ''Time'' (April 19, 2010) [https://web.archive.org/web/20100411202329/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1978794,00.html#ixzz0n9k5AEGK excerpt and text search]
* Elson, Robert T. ''Time Inc: The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1923–1941'' (1968); vol. 2: ''The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History, 1941–1960'' (1973), official corporate history. [https://archive.org/details/timeincintimateh00elso vol 1 online] also [https://archive.org/details/timeincintimateh0003elso vol 2 online]
* Herzstein, Robert E.  ''Henry R. Luce, Time, and the American Crusade in Asia'' (2006) [https://archive.org/details/henryrlucetimeam0000herz online]
* Herzstein, Robert E. ''Henry R. Luce: A Political Portrait of the Man Who Created the American Century'' (1994). [https://archive.org/details/henryrlucepoliti00herz online]
* [[Sylvia Jukes Morris|Morris, Sylvia Jukes]]. ''Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce'' (1997).
* [[W.A. Swanberg|Swanberg, W. A.]], ''Luce and His Empire'', Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1972.
* Wilner, Isaiah. ''The Man Time Forgot: A Tale of Genius, Betrayal, and the Creation of Time Magazine'' (HarperCollins, 2006).

===Primary sources===
*Luce, Henry. ''The ideas of Henry Luce'' ed by John Knox Jessup, (1969) [https://archive.org/details/ideasofhenryluce00luce/page/n7/mode/2up online]

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/ncu_iris_ver01/data/sn78002169/0027955825A/1947030201/0022.pdf John Foster Dulles and Clare Boothe Luce link (pdf format)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/mediakit/about/biographies/founders/luce.html TIME biography]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* [http://www.hluce.org/ The Henry Luce Foundation]
* [http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/luce/ Luce Center for American Art at the Brooklyn Museum – Visible Storage and Study Center]
* Whitman, Alden. [https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0403.html "Henry R. Luce, Creator of Time&ndash;Life Magazine Empire, Dies in Phoenix at 68"], ''The New York Times'', March 1, 1967.
* [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/luce_h.html PBS American Masters]
* {{Find a Grave|649}}
* [http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/ms3014_henry_luce/ Henry R. Luce Papers] at the [https://www.nyhistory.org/library New-York Historical Society]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luce, Henry}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:American magazine founders]]
[[Category:American magazine publishers (people)]]
[[Category:American mass media owners]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Yantai]]
[[Category:Children of American missionaries in China]]
[[Category:Connecticut Republicans]]
[[Category:Hotchkiss School alumni]]
[[Category:New Right (United States)]]
[[Category:People from Penglai, Shandong]]
[[Category:People from Ridgefield, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Skull and Bones Society]]
[[Category:Time (magazine) people]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Members of Skull and Bones]]