Clare Boothe Luce

Clare Boothe Luce (née Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was a United States politician and ambassador, and a writer. A feminist, she is best known for her 1936 hit play The Women, which had an all-female cast. Her writings extended from drama and screen scenarios to fiction, journalism, and war reportage. She was married to Henry Luce, publisher of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated.

Politically, Luce was well-known for her anti-communism. In her youth, she aligned herself with the liberalism of President Franklin Roosevelt as a protégé of the Jewish financier Bernard Baruch, but later became an outspoken critic of Roosevelt. Although she was a strong supporter of the Anglo-American alliance in World War II, she remained outspokenly critical of British colonialism in India (and presumably of British colonialism everywhere else).

Born illegitimate, she converted to Roman Catholicism in 1946; she campaigned for every Republican Presidential candidate from Wendell Willkie to Ronald Reagan.