Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'', ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'', and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' magazine. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America of his day". Born in

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, China, to

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

parents, Luce moved to the US at the age of 15 and later attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. 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 ''

'' explored the world of sports. Counting his 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 The American Century is a characterization of the period since the middle of the 20th century as being largely dominated by the United States in political, economic, and cultural terms. It is comparable to the description of the period 1815–19 ...

Early life

Luce was born in Tengchow (now Penglai),

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, on April 3, 1898, the son of Elizabeth Root Luce and

Henry Winters Luce Henry Winters Luce (June 24, 1868– December 7, 1941) was an American missionary and educator in China. He was the father of the publisher Henry R. Luce. Biography Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Luce graduated from Yale University in 1892. ...

, who was a

missionary.

Education

At 15, he was sent to the US to attend the

Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a coeducational University-preparatory school#North America, preparatory school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States. Hotchkiss is a member of the Eight Schools Association and Ten Schools Admissions Organization. It i ...

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 Nancy Maria "Nettie" McCormick (; February 8, 1835 – July 5, 1923) was an American philanthropist. Through marriage, she became a member of the prominent McCormick family. Early life Nettie was born on February 8, 1835, at Brownsville, New Yor ...

, who favored sons of missionaries. Applying himself to study, Luce quickly became the top student. He was especially strong in languages—he studied Greek, Latin, French and German—and already knew Chinese. He edited the ''Hotchkiss Literary Monthly''. There, he first met

Briton Hadden Briton Hadden (February 18, 1898 – February 27, 1929) was the co-founder of ''Time'' magazine with his Yale classmate Henry Luce. He was ''Time''s first editor and the inventor of its revolutionary writing style, known as Timestyle. Thoug ...

; they became best friends. Hotchkiss was a feeder prep school for Yale. After a summer working on a Springfield newspaper, Luce matriculated in New Haven in fall 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. When the U.S. entered the World War in 1917, a third of the students joined the army; the rest including Luce, joined 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. They returned to campus in January 1919 as juniors. In May they were both tapped for the highly prestigious secret society

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. He tried but failed to get a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, but he was admitted and paid his way. He spent the year travelling Europe, observing the postwar scene closely. He returned to the United States to take a newspaper job in Chicago as a junior reporter.

Magazines

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 Robert Livingston Johnson (March 25, 1894 – January 16, 1966) was Temple University's third president (1941 to 1959) and a former vice president of Time Inc. Early life Johnson was born in New York City to Frank R. and Grace Bell Johnson. He ...

and another Yale classmate to form Time Inc. Luce, supported by Editor-in-Chief

T. S. Matthews Thomas Stanley Matthews (January 16, 1901 – January 4, 1991) was an American magazine editor, journalist, and writer. He served as editor of ''Time'' magazine from 1949 to 1953. Background Thomas Stanley Matthews was born on January 16, 1901 ...

, appointed

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...

as acting Foreign News editor in 1944, despite the feuds that Chambers had with reporters in the field. Luce, who remained editor-in-chief of all his publications until 1964, maintained a position as an influential member of the Republican Party."Henry R. Luce: End of a Pilgrimage"
''

''. March 10, 1967 An instrumental figure behind the so-called "

China Lobby In American politics, the China lobby consisted of advocacy groups calling for American support for the Republic of China during the period from the 1930s until US recognition of the People's Republic of China in 1979, and then calling for clo ...

", he played a large role in steering American foreign policy and popular sentiment in favor of

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

leader

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

and his wife,

Soong Mei-ling Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling, ; March 5, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang, was a Chinese political figure who was First Lady of the Republic of China, the wife of Generalissimo and ...

, in their war against the Japanese. (The Chiangs appeared in the cover of ''Time'' eleven times between 1927 and 1955.) Luce penned a famous editorial in ''Life'' magazine in 1941, called "

The American Century The American Century is a characterization of the period since the middle of the 20th century as being largely dominated by the United States in political, economic, and cultural terms. It is comparable to the description of the period 1815–19 ...

", which defined the role of U.S. foreign policy for the remainder of the 20th century (and perhaps beyond). He died in Phoenix, Arizona in 1967. At his death, he was said to be worth $100 million in

Time Inc. Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...

stock. Most of his fortune went to the Henry Luce Foundation, where his son Henry III served as chairman and chief executive for many years.

Family

Luce met his first wife, Lila Hotz, while he was studying at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 1919. They married in 1923 and had two children, Peter Paul and Henry Luce III, before divorcing in 1935.

Recognition

He was honored by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

with a 32¢

Great Americans series The Great Americans series is a set of definitive stamps issued by the United States Postal Service, starting on December 27, 1980, with the 19¢ stamp depicting Sequoyah, and continuing through 1999, the final stamp being the 55¢ Justin S. Mo ...

(1980–2000) postage stamp. Luce was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.

References

External links

John Foster Dulles and Clare Boothe Luce link (pdf format)

The Henry Luce Foundation

Luce Center for American Art at the Brooklyn Museum – Visible Storage and Study Center
* Whitman, Alden

''The New York Times'', March 1, 1967.

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