Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

George C. Marshall vs. Clare Boothe Luce

It wasn’t just Patton. Gen. George C. Marshall, more a tightlipped Puritan than a diva, also was mightily displeased with Congresswoman Luce, the husband of Henry Luce of Time Inc. "Clare Luce went out there and also to Italy, writing for Time and Life, and called them forgotten divisions…. She ruined morale terribly. Corps commanders ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
U.S. Library of Congress
U.S. Library of Congress
U.S. Library of Congress

It wasn't just Patton. Gen. George C. Marshall, more a tightlipped Puritan than a diva, also was mightily displeased with Congresswoman Luce, the husband of Henry Luce of Time Inc. "Clare Luce went out there and also to Italy, writing for Time and Life, and called them forgotten divisions.... She ruined morale terribly. Corps commanders said after that they couldn't do anything with their troops. Her episode, particularly in Italy, was very serious."

It wasn’t just Patton. Gen. George C. Marshall, more a tightlipped Puritan than a diva, also was mightily displeased with Congresswoman Luce, the husband of Henry Luce of Time Inc. "Clare Luce went out there and also to Italy, writing for Time and Life, and called them forgotten divisions…. She ruined morale terribly. Corps commanders said after that they couldn’t do anything with their troops. Her episode, particularly in Italy, was very serious."

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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