Henry Luce

Henry Robinson Luce was born on April 3, 1898, in Dengzhou (Tengchow, now Penglai), Shandong, China, to Henry Winters Luce and Elizabeth Root Luce, Presbyterian missionaries and educators in China. He spent his first 14 years in Shandong and first visited the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry at age seven, when his parents came home on furlough.⁠[1][2][3][4]

From 1909 he spent five years at the Chefoo School, a British boarding school in Yantai; in 1913, after several months in Europe, he went to the United States, and in 1914 he enrolled at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a U.S. state in the New England region. Its capital is Hartford and its largest city is Bridgeport (2010 census). It entered the Union on January 9, 1788, as the 5th state, and had a population of 3,605,944 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, where he met Briton Hadden. Hadden edited the school paper while Luce led the literary magazine.⁠[2][2][2][3][1]

He entered Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Its predecessor, the Collegiate School, received a charter in 1701. Trustees chose New Haven in 1716; the institution became Yale College in 1718 and Yale University in 1887. Yale provides undergraduate, graduate and professional education and has 14 undergraduate residential colleges. As of October 2026, its president was Maurie McInnis, who took office in July 2024. In 2026, Yale expanded aid for incoming undergraduates and celebrated its 325th anniversary.Open the full entry in 1916; Hadden became chairman of the Yale Daily News in his sophomore year, and Luce joined its board. During World War I both were sent to Camp Jackson, South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina (officially the State of South Carolina) is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Ocean bordering Georgia and North Carolina; its capital is Columbia and its most populous city is Charleston. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on May 23, 1788, the eighth state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 5,118,425.Open the full entry, as student officer instructors. He graduated from Yale University in 1920 with a B.A. and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.⁠[2][3][1][2]

After graduating he studied at the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university in Oxford, England, where teaching existed in some form by 1096; it describes itself as the oldest university in the English-speaking world and is organised as a federal system of the university and dozens of self-governing colleges.Open the full entry and traveled in Europe. In 1921 he worked as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News and then joined Hadden at the Baltimore News, where the two began planning a weekly; in 1922 they moved to New York City and developed the newsweekly they called Time.⁠[2][2][2]

The first issue of Time, dated March 3, 1923, ran to 32 pages including the cover and was printed at the Williams Press in New York City. Hadden served as editor and Luce as business manager. The magazine grouped short articles into departments, a structure that BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopedia first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768; the name also refers to its publisher, Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (which presents itself as The Britannica Group). The print edition ended in 2012, and the company’s main businesses since then have been the online encyclopedia Britannica.com, digital education products for schools and libraries, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries.Open the full entry judges became the model for most later general newsmagazines.⁠[3][5]

In 1923 he married Lila Hotz of Chicago.⁠[2]

In 1925 Time’s operations moved to Cleveland, OhioOhioOhio is a state in the Midwestern United States; its capital is Columbus. It joined the Union in 1803 as the 17th state, the first carved from the Northwest Territory, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 11,799,448.Open the full entry, returning to New York in 1927. By 1927 its circulation had passed 175,000, and it became profitable within four years.⁠[2][2][5][1]

After Hadden died in 1929, Luce gained effective control of Time Inc. and from 1929 served as editor in chief of all its publications. That year he began the business magazine Fortune, whose first issue appeared in 1930.⁠[1][2][2]

The March of Time radio program first aired in 1931, and the first March of Time newsreel followed in 1935. The photo magazine Life debuted in 1936 and quickly became one of the most popular magazines ever published.⁠[2][2][1]

He divorced Lila Hotz on October 5, 1935, and on November 23, 1935, married the playwright Clare Boothe Brokaw. Both became influential in the Republican Party and in national politics.⁠[2][1]

The Henry Luce Foundation was formed in 1936, filing its certificate of incorporation in New York on December 24, 1936.⁠[4]

On February 17, 1941, he published “The American Century” in Life, declaring the 20th century American and urging the United States to accept its role as a world power and shape the world order through power, prestige and culture, pointing to American jazz, Hollywood films and products as expressions of “a truly American internationalism.” He had also taken part in Wendell Willkie’s 1940 presidential campaign.⁠[6][2]

Kenneth Weisbrode of Bilkent University judges that the essay was both predictive and a diagnosis of the recent past, and that the phrase “American Century” carried both imperial and progressive meanings.⁠[6]

On April 19, 1951, he gave the first of many speeches calling for “peace through law.” In 1952 he and Clare Boothe Luce worked to elect the Republican Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) was an American army general and politician who served as supreme commander of Allied forces in western Europe during World War II and as the 34th president of the United States, a Republican, from 1953 to 1961.Open the full entry; in 1953 Eisenhower appointed Clare Boothe Luce ambassador to Italy, and Luce opened offices in Rome. He launched House & Home in 1952 and Sports Illustrated in 1954.⁠[2][2][2][1]

In 1964 he retired as editor in chief of Time Inc. and became its editorial chairman.⁠[1][5][2]

He died of a heart attack in Phoenix, ArizonaArizonaArizona is a state in the southwestern United States; its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, as the 48th state. Its population at the 2020 Census (April 1, 2020) was 7,151,502.Open the full entry, on February 28, 1967, at the age of 68.⁠[1][2]

He and his first wife, Lila Hotz, had two sons: Henry Luce III (born 1925) and Peter Paul (born May 18, 1928). His second wife, Clare Boothe Luce (1903–1987), was a playwright, legislator and diplomat; she was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 3, 1942, and served two terms.⁠[2][2][6][2]

Henry Luce III was president of the Henry Luce Foundation from 1958 to 1990 and its chairman and CEO from 1990 to 2002. The foundation created the Henry R. Luce Professorship Program in 1968, launched the Luce Scholars program, which places young Americans in internships in Asia, in 1974, and in 1989 established the Clare Boothe Luce Program for women in science, engineering and mathematics from Clare Boothe Luce’s bequest. As of November 2026, Jonathan Holloway has been the foundation’s president and CEO since October 1, 2025.⁠[4]

In 2017 Time Inc. agreed to be sold to the Meredith Corporation for nearly $3 billion.⁠[5]

Henry Luce Foundation: Official website: https://www.hluce.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]

TIMETIMETIME is an American newsmagazine and media brand founded by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, which published its first issue on March 3, 1923; it is headquartered in New York and known for its Person of the Year selection and the TIME100 list. Since 2018 it has been personally owned by Marc and Lynne Benioff; its current Chief Executive Officer is Jessica Sibley, and its Editor-in-Chief is Sam Jacobs.Open the full entry: Official website: https://time.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]