Book Review

Book Review: Clare Booth Luce by Stephen Shadegg

The cover of this book reads: “The biography of one of America’s most famous and controversial women- playwright, actress, Congresswoman, Ambassador, friend or enemy of almost everyone worth knowing in our times.”

Clare Boothe Luce (CBL) totally makes it into the hall of fame of great women who accomplished a great deal while keeping it together. I always thought it wasn’t fair that the woman who thought up the concept for Life Magazine, predicted Pearl Harbor, was responsible for making NATO possible and planted the seeds for the Marshall plan should be relegated to a foot note of history. I suppose that’s why it is history not herstory.

Even though CBL was a woman born in 1903 and her story takes place in the first half of the 20^th century, she has a lot to teach us. One thread that repeatedly impressed me was how CBL took risks. From showing up at the Vogue offices for work every morning without an official job to crashing the Italian President’s office when her chauffer took a wrong turn, CBL repeatedly took calculated risks. The exchange between her and President Eisenhower was worth reading the book alone. I put an emphasis on the “calculated” in calculated risks, because she certainly turned things down that she knew wouldn’t work. For example, she turned down the Ambassordship to Brazil, knowing that whoever took the job would fail ultimately fail in the mission.

Another thread was how CBL kept her options open. She always had a few irons in the fire, knowing a couple would come to fruition and others would peter out. For example, she signed on to be a consultant to some movies while running for Congress, in case she lost the election. Barred from involvement in the Time-Life enterprise, rather than wallowing in self-pity and resentment, she got to work on her play writing. As much as her biography was about her accomplishments, the list of things that DIDN’T work for her was very long. (One thing that was missing from the book jacket description was “journalist.” Her McCall’s article on converting to Catholicism is their most requested reprint. She was one of the first correspondents to the pacific front during WWII)

However, there is a cautionary portion to CBL’s story: she didn’t really pay enough attention to the money. Her brother lost most of her money and when her second husband died she had a greatly reduced income. She was forced to sell the homes she shared with her second husband. Interestingly, from this biography anyway, it doesn’t seem that Clare saw any money from her idea of Life Magazine. It wasn’t like the idea was just bantered around across pillow talk, she had mocked up the magazine before she ever met Harry Luce. When Harry was being sued, Clare and her mock-up took the stand and stated under oath Life magazine was her idea, and the evidence was strong enough the suit against Harry was promptly dismissed. With the idea so solidly hers, it’s a shame she didn’t realize any financial benefit from it directly. (I get the impression that a JBKO or a Deborah Mitford, who had a much closer eye on the checkbook, wouldn’t let this slide).

Like other women in the hall of fame of great women who accomplished a great deal while keeping it together, I felt a little bit exhausted after reading this book. While I wouldn’t have a lot of Clare’s choices in her position, I like her advice, “Explain nothing, Deny Everything, Demand Proof, Don’t Listen to it and give the opposition hell.”