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VOICE ONE:
I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Gwen Outen with People in America in VOA Special English.Today we tell about a woman who became famous for her activities ingovernment, the media and the arts. She was a member of Congress andan ambassador. She was a news reporter and magazine editor. And shewrote plays. Her name was Clare Boothe Luce.
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VOICE ONE:
Clare Boothe Luce was one of themost influential women in modern American history. Yet she came fromsimple roots. She was born in New York City in nineteen-oh-three.Clare’s father was a musician and businessman. Her mother had been adancer.
While Clare was a girl, her parents ended their marriage. She andher brother stayed with their mother. Their mother did not have alot of money. Yet she was able to send Clare to very good schools.Her mother then married a doctor from Connecticut. Clare’sstepfather, Albert Austin, later served in the United States Houseof Representatives.
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As a young woman, Clare Boothe was known for her intelligence andgood looks. She met her first husband through a family friend.George Tuttle Brokaw was a wealthy man. He also was more than twentyyears older than Clare. They were married in nineteen-twenty-threeand had one child – a daughter. However, her husband had a problemwith alcoholic drinks. Their marriage ended after only six years.
Clare developed a serious interest in writing. Innineteen-thirty, a friend, the magazine publisher Conde Nast,offered her a job. She wrote comments for pictures published inVogue, a magazine for women about clothes and fashion. A short timelater, she accepted a job at other magazine, Vanity Fair. She wrotereports about social events and famous people in New York. Laterthese reports were published in a book.
VOICE ONE:
Clare Boothe became a top editor at Vanity Fair. She worked thereuntil nineteen-thirty-four. By then, she was also writing plays. Oneplay was called “Abide With Me.” It was about a man who mistreatshis wife. “Abide With Me” opened in a theater on Broadway in NewYork City in nineteen-thirty-five. Critics hated it.
Two days after the show opened, Clare Boothe married HenryRobinson Luce. He was a famous and important magazine publisher. Hepublished Time and Fortune magazines. She had first met Henry Luceat a party in New York. At the time, he was married and had twochildren. He and Clare were married a short time after a court ordercanceled his first marriage. They would stay together for more thanthirty years.
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Clare Boothe Luce returned to writing plays. Her second play,”The Women,” made fun of rich women. It opened on Broadway innineteen-thirty-six. The show was very popular. It was later madeinto a movie. Another play, “Kiss the Boys Goodbye,” also was asuccess. So was her next play, “Margin For Error.” All three playswere noted for their use of sharp language and making fun of humanfailings.
Clare Boothe Luce was known for expressing her opinions. Her mostfamous saying was: “No good deed goes unpunished.” She often spokeabout the problems of women trying to succeed in a world mainlycontrolled by men. She said: “Because I am a woman, I must makeunusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’thave what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what ittakes.” She made these comments in a speech to the National PressClub in Washington, D.C.
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We women are supposed to be a minority. I’ve never understoodthat myself because we outnumber the men in actual numbers, and welive five years longer. So I’ve never felt like a minority because,as you know, minorities are never supposed to say anything unkindabout one another.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-forty, Clare Boothe Luce traveled to Europe as areporter for Life magazine, which was published by her husband. Shevisited a number of countries and later wrote reports about howpeople were dealing with World War Two. She wrote a book about thiscalled “Europe in Spring.” In the book, she noted that people wereliving in “a world where men have decided to die together becausethey are unable to find a way to live together. She also reportedfrom Africa, China, India and Burma for Life magazine.
In nineteen-forty-two, her stepfather, Albert Austin, died.Missus Luce agreed to be the Republican Party candidate for his seatin the House of Representatives from Connecticut. She was electedand entered Congress in January, nineteen-forty-three.
Missus Luce was a political conservative. She spoke against theadministration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She criticizedthe Roosevelt administration’s foreign policy. She said it failed tosupervise the war effort.
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A tragic event affected Clare Boothe Luce in nineteen-forty-four.Her nineteen-year-old daughter Ann was killed in an automobileaccident. Missus Luce experienced severe emotional problems. Shesought help from a number of people, including a Roman Catholicclergyman, the Reverend Fulton J. Sheen. At the time, he wasbecoming known for his radio broadcasts.
Missus Luce demanded to know why God had taken her daughter.Reverend Sheen said the young woman had died so that her mothercould learn about the meaning of life.
Missus Luce recovered and returned to Congress. She remainedpopular among the voters of Connecticut and was re-elected to asecond term in office. However, she did not seek re-election innineteen-forty-six. Missus Luce said she wanted to spend more timewith her husband. She also became a member of the Roman CatholicChurch.
Missus Luce returned to writing. She also edited a book aboutpeople considered holy by the Roman Catholic Church.
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VOICE ONE:
Clare Boothe Luce criticized the spread of Communism after WorldWar Two. In nineteen-fifty-two, she supported the Republican Party’scandidate for president, former General Dwight Eisenhower. He wonthe election and appointed Missus Luce as ambassador to Italy. Shebecame one of the first American women to serve in a majordiplomatic position. Missus Luce served as the ambassador untilnineteen-fifty-six. She left Rome after becoming sick with arsenicpoisoning caused by paint particles in her bedroom.
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Three years later, President Eisenhower nominated Missus Luce asambassador to Brazil. Most members of the United States Senatesupported her nomination. However, some senators were opposed. Amongthem was Wayne Morse, a Democrat from Oregon.
The Senate approved Missus Luce as the new ambassador. After thedebate, she said that Senator Morse’s actions were the result of himbeing “kicked in the head by a horse.” Many Democrats criticized hercomment. A few days later she resigned as ambassador.
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Missus Luce remained active in politics. In nineteen-sixty-four,she supported Senator Barry Goldwater as the Republican Party’scandidate for president. She also announced plans to be theConservative Party candidate for the Senate from New York. However,Republican leaders disapproved and she withdrew from the race.
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Clare Boothe Luce retired from public life. She and her husbandmoved to Phoenix, Arizona. Henry Luce died there innineteen-sixty-seven. He was sixty-eight years old.
Missus Luce moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. She lived there until theearly nineteen-eighties. During that period, she served as anadvisor to three presidents. She was a member of the President’ sForeign Intelligence Advisory Board.
Then Missus Luce moved to Washington, D.C. Innineteen-eighty-three, President Ronald Reagan awarded her thePresidential Medal of Freedom. That is the highest honor a presidentcan give to an American citizen.
Clare Boothe Luce had a long battle with cancer. She died at herhome in nineteen-eighty-seven. She was eighty-four years old. Shewas buried near the remains of her husband in the state of SouthCarolina.
Experts said Clare Boothe Luce had enough important jobs ingovernment, the media and the arts to satisfy several women. She wasoften on the list of the ten most important and admired women in theworld.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by George Grow. Lawan Davis was ourproducer. I’m Gwen Outen.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Steve Ember. Listen again next week for People in Americain VOA Special English.
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