Clare Boothe Luce Is Rolling In Her Grave.

RightWingWatch informs us that the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute’s hot conservative women calendar, “Pretty in Mink,” is now available.

But wait. Who is Clare Boothe Luce (hereinafter “CLB”) and why does she have a policy institute with her name on it? Wasn’t she just another hot conservative babe?

Clare Boothe Luce, circa 1930-1940

If my sources are correct, if members of the institute had met CLB as a young woman, they would have felt it their duty to snub her in the street, if not worse. She was the illegitimate daughter of a dancer and a violinist. She lived in France for a while. She wanted to be an actress and at age ten understudied Mary Pickford on Broadway. CLB was in favor of women’s suffrage. The shame!

With her “arts” background, CLB began the 1930s as a writer, working as an associate and then managing editor for Vanity Fair which published her short satiric sketches of New York society, and then, in 1934, she gave it all up to become a playwright.

In 1935 she married Henry Luce, founder of Fortune magazine, a year before he launched Life magazine. Together, and separately, they were big players in the Republican party.

CLB was the first female US Representative from Connecticut, from 1942-1946, winning the respect of the ultraconservative isolationists as an outspoken critic of FDR’s foreign policy, thus gaining a seat on the Military Affairs Committee. She was an enthusiastic supporter of Barry Goldwater in 1964. Ronald Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the end of her term (1981-1983) on his Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board,

In a 1977 interview she was asked, “What is the greatest misconception about you?”

She gave what was to me a surprising answer:

CLB: People think I’m tough and that I’ve always known what I want. I wish that were true, or I would have done much better in my life. Instead of being all over the lot, I should have stuck to one thing—writing. Politics ruins creative talent.

Interviewer: Why?

CLB: Because it has so little to do with truth. That’s not only my feeling. Socrates had the same idea a couple of thousand years ago. Politics is the art of the possible; it has far more to do with compromise than anything else. I’ve seen a whole generation of writers ruined by politics.

And of course, this being 1977, she was asked about women:

Interviewer: What is your assessment of the state of women in America?

CLB: The women’s liberation movement has encountered some bad times. But women go as fast as they want to. It’s absurd not to acknowledge how many are quite content to be wives and mothers.

Interviewer: Are some feminists a bit too strident?

CLB: All a woman has to do is make a point forcefully and she is instantly called shrill or strident. By the way, Bella Abzug is a dear friend. She is energetic and rather cozy — far more attractive a woman than you might think. I think she is a gutsy dame — just great!

Interviewer: Do you support the Equal Rights Amendment?

CLB: My first job was working for Alice Paul’s Women’s National Party in 1923. I’ve been for ERA for 54 years!

I’m starting to actually like Clare Boothe Luce:

Interviewer: Do you have any regrets?

CLB: Yes, I should have been a better person. Kinder, more tolerant.

Through a bequest at her death, the Clare Boothe Luce Program was created and, since 1989, has become “the single most significant source of private support for women in science, mathematics and engineering.” It sounds like a very good program.

All in all, CLB seems to have been somewhat fearful of bogeymen but she pretty clearly believed in equal rights for women. And she was probably fun at parties.

So what are the goals of The Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, the independently owned and operated makers of the above-referenced calendar?

They describe themselves this way:

The Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute is one of the most unique organizations in America. Founded in 1993, our mission is to prepare women for effective leadership and to promote leading conservative women.

We promote mentors and women leaders who are committed to constitutional principles such as individual freedom, economic liberty, limited government, personal responsibility, and traditional values. These women are journalists, public policy experts, columnists, government officials, academicians, authors, politicians, talk radio hosts, legislators, as well as founders and presidents of conservative organizations. Many of them are also devoted wives, mothers, and women of faith.

Our programs and initiatives stress the importance of moral values, strength of character, academic excellence, integrity, and a strong work ethic. We also support ideas and efforts that are pro-America, pro-business, and pro-family.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

I’m not sure that CBL would approve of the institute’s choice of friends but here is what some of them have to say about the institute that uses her name:

“The Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute’s commitment to fostering leadership in young women is important and appreciated.” Vice President Dick Cheney

“Your work to help young women prepare themselves for conservative leadership is important and impressive.” First Lady Laura Bush

“I know that I speak for many when I say that we are so thankful for your unwavering devotion to the continuing education of conservative leadership for young women. It is evident that your leadership and commitment have had an enormous impact on all who have worked with you.” Newt Gingrich

“Over the years, the lives of many young women in the workforce have been changed in significant ways through your support and encouragement.” Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao

“It was my pleasure to be a friend of Clare Boothe Luce and I know she would be proud and pleased with your accomplishments.” Eagle Forum President, Phyllis Schlafly

Quite the group of outstanding and patriotic citizens.

Others, not surprisingly, have a more jaundiced view of what’s up with the institute:

Originally launched by Michelle Easton in 1993 to play “women’s auxiliary” to the mostly male Young America’s Foundation, the institute is less a think tank than a consciousness-raising organ, dedicated to convincing disgruntled students that feminism is the source of their woe.

So who is in the calendar? Are Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry going to have their dreams come true?

Sarah "Ready For My Closeup" Palin

No, sadly, not this year.

Following is the list of those the Clare Boothe Luce Institute deem to be the cream of American conservative womanhood — “every single one of the … beautiful women featured in Pretty in Mink is one hundred percent a “Luce Lady.”

Miss January — Kellyanne Conway
Miss February — Star Parker
Miss March – Susan Phalen
Miss April – Nonie Darwish
Miss May – Mary Katharine Ham
Miss June – Michelle Malkin
Miss July – Amanda Carpenter
Miss August – Sandy Liddy Bourne
Miss September – Ann Coulter
Miss October – Kate Obenshain
Miss November – Miriam Grossman, M.D.
Miss December – Clare Boothe Luce

UPDATE: Watertiger, over at FDL, alerts us that ABC has the calendar photos up as a slide show. The production values are astonishingly bad, even considering the aesthetics of those participating.

(Photograph of Clare Boothe Luce courtesy of The Library of Congress, LOT 11236-3, no. 7; photograph of Sarah Palin courtesy of AP/Lynne Sladky via Dependable Renegade)