What Would Henry Luce Make of the Digital Age?

The author of a new biography of Henry Luce wonders how the Time Inc. founder would meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century

Left: Underwood and Underwood / Time Life Images

Henry Luce, co-founder of TIME and long the head of Time Inc., was an unlikely revolutionary. He was the son of a Presbyterian missionary in China, a product of élite boarding schools, a Skull and Bonesman at Yale, an ardent Republican throughout most of his life. He became one of the wealthiest men in the U.S., and he lived accordingly. He disliked most of the New Deal and loathed Franklin Roosevelt. His famous 1941 essay in LIFE, "The American Century," was a call to reshape the world on the American model. He was a passionate champion of the U.S.'s unpopular wars...

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