Henry Luce
Henry Robinson Luce (pronounced like "loose") (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an influential American publisher, one of the most powerful figures in twentieth century American journalism. He was the co-founder of Time (magazine), the pioneering weekly news magazine and the founder of Life, which pioneered photojournalism, also taking over Fortune magazine. His publications reflected Luce's desire to educate the American public, who were otherwise ill-informed about newsworthy events, both in the U.S. and worldwide.
Life
Henry Robinson Luce was born in Dengzhou, China, the son of a Presbyterian missionary. He was educated in various boarding schools in China and England. At 10, he was sent to a British boarding school at Chefoo on the China coast and at 14, he traveled to Europe alone.
He first arrived in the U.S. at the age of 15, to attend the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. Luce spent his free time between waiting tables after school and editing the Hotchkiss Literary Monthly, holding the position of editor-in-chief. He graduated from Yale University in 1920, where he was a member of "Skull and Bones."
Henry Luce first met Briton Hadden, who was to become his partner in revolutionizing the world of journalism, at Hotchkiss while working on the school newspaper. The two continued to work together at Yale, where Hadden was chairman and Luce was managing editor of the Yale Daily News.
Luce recalled his relationship with Hadden:
Somehow, despite the greatest differences in temperaments and even in interests, somehow we had to work together. We were an organization. At the center of our lives—our job, our function—at that point everything we had belonged to each other.
After being voted “most brilliant” in his class at Yale, he parted ways with Hadden to embark on history studies at Oxford University for a year. He then worked as a cub reporter for the Chicago Daily News after his return. In December 1921, Luce joined Hadden at The Baltimore News. In 1823, they began Time (magazine), the introduction of the weekly news magazine and their revolution of American journalism.
Had Luce died in 1940, he would have been remembered for the great contributions he made to communication, seeking to create new ways of relaying the news, and informing the public of newsworthy events throughout the world. However, he lived another thirty-seven years, during which time his personal political viewpoints came to the fore, dominating the views expressed in his publications. Time was finally criticized as beign "the most successful liar of our time" by a former editor. Thus, Luce came to be hated, even after his death, for his prejudices (Baughman 2001).
Luce had two children—Peter Paul and Henry Luce III—with his first wife, Lila Hotz. He married his second wife, Clare Boothe Luce in 1935.
According to a book by Ralph G. Martin, entitled Henry & Clare: An intimate portrait of the Luces, Henry had extended relationships with Jean Dalrymple, Mary Bancroft, and Lady Jeanne Campbell. Martin's writings however are considered questionable as undocumented falsehoods.
Luce died in Phoenix, Arizona in 1967. At his death he was said to be worth $100 million in Time Inc. stock. Most of his fortune went to the Henry Luce Foundation, which his son Henry Luce III directed until his own death in 2005.
Work
Henry Luce was a powerful innovator in the field of American journalism. His work transformed the field of mass communication in the mid-twentieth century. Together with Briton Hadden, his friend and co-worker from high school and Yale, Luce began Time (magazine) in 1923.
Nightly discussions of the concept of a newsmagazine led the two, both age 23, to quit their jobs in 1922. Later that same year the two formed Time Inc. Having raised $86,000 of a $100,000 goal, the first issue of TIME was published on March 3, 1923. Luce served as business manager while Hadden was editor-in-chief. Luce and Hadden annually alternated year-to-year the titles of president and secretary-treasurer. Upon Hadden's sudden death in 1929, Luce assumed Hadden's position.
Luce launched the business magazine Fortune in February of 1930, Architectural Forum in (1934) and founded the pictorial Life magazine in 1936, and launched House & Home in 1952 and Sports Illustrated in 1954. He also produced The March of Time for radio and cinema. By the mid 1960s, Time Inc., now part of the Time Warner Inc. media empire, was the largest and most prestigious magazine publisher in the world. Luce also did innovative work for radio, newsreels, and television, and his Time-Life Books became a major publishing house.
Luce, who remained editor-in-chief of all his publications until 1964, was an influential member of the Republican Party. Holding anti-communist sentiments, he was an instrumental figure behind the so-called "China Lobby," and played a large role in steering American foreign policy and popular sentiment in favor of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling. Once ambitious to become Secretary of State in a Republican administration, Luce penned a famous article in Life magazine in 1941, called "The American Century," which defined the role of American foreign policy for the remainder of the 20th century (and perhaps beyond).
One famous issue from Time led by the writing of James Agee focused on the dropping of the atom bomb. In a new section from that same issue was called Atomic Age, TIME wrestled with the historic and moral implications of what passed for progress: Pain and a price attended progress.
Many issues like this of Time have been distributed throughout America leaving people better informed and educated with a better understanding of values of the present time. Henry Luce deserves alot of the credit for helping to create such a major influence.
Legacy
During his life, Luce supported many programs like Save the Children Federation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and United Service to China, Inc.
Henry Luce provided us with some of the leading news magazines to this day- Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and Life. Henry during his work with Time magazine he was able to use the medium to express his views about anti-communism, freedom and equality, capitalism, globalism, China policy, christian activism, intervention, and many others.
Henry Luce should be most well known for the values that he upheld and the magazines he helped bring into existence that forwarded these values to millions. By being born in China with Christian missionary parents he was easily able to adopt a worldview which helped his success tremendously. No better place to progress his worldview than in the largest democratic nation the world has - the powerful United States of America. These magazines that he helped to publish will continue to influence generations to come and also provide great career opportunities for journalists both now and in the future. One of the greatest things about his life was his strong anti-communist stance, definitely he should be remembered for this because communism was a destructive cause that needed to be stopped. Although some may have found his love life questionable he still should be considered one of the most prominent men born of women. If we could possess his innate quality to help expand the human mind through his publishing work and life then we might all be able to live in a more peaceful place.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Baughman, James L. 2001. Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801867169
- Martin, Ralph G.. "Henry & Clare: An Intimate Portrait of the Luces. Reprint." Perigree, 1992. ISBN #0399517812
External links
- TIME biography
- The Henry Luce Foundation
- PBS American Masters
- Time Magazine - Henry R. Luce
- Luce Lips by John Leonard
- American History information about Henry Luce in The Reader's Companion to American History Eric Foner and John A. Garraty ( Eds). Houghton Mifflin Company
- Time.com in partnership with CNN
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