Henry Luce
Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was the cofounder in 1923 and long-time publisher of Time magazine, as well as Life and Fortune magazines. They were the most influential magazines in the country until the 1970s.
Luce was born in China of Presbyterian missionary parents, and always strongly publicized and supported China, especially Chiang Kai-shek. He opposed Communism throughout the Cold War.
A conservative Republican, he was one of the most influential shapers of public opinion from the 1920s to his death.
Luce founded Time Magazine with fellow board school student Briton Hadden in 1923.
In 1936, Luce bought Life Magazine from Clair Maxwell. Luce transformed the magazine into a photograph newsmagazine, debuting the new change on November 23, 1936.
In 1941 he proclaimed the "American Century,"—the American mission to spread democracy, freedom and capitalism and prosperity.
His wife Clare Boothe Luce was a leading playwright and political activist. Whittaker Chambers was his influential foreign affairs editor from 1944-1949.
Luce died in Phoenix, Arizona at age 68, worth a reported $100 million.
Further reading
- Brinkley, Alan. The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century (2010)
- Baughman, James L. Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media (2001) 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)
- Herzstein, Robert E. Henry R. Luce, Time, and the American Crusade in Asia (2006) excerpt and text search
- Morris, Sylvia Jukes. Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce (1997)
- Swanberg, W. A. Luce and His Empire (1972), outdated popular history
