Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936), a bestseller that remains popular today.

[3][4] Carnegie grew up around Bedison, Missouri, southeast of Maryville and attended rural Rose Hill and Harmony one room schools.

[9] He was successful to the point of making his sales territory of South Omaha, Nebraska, the national leader for the firm.

[10] After saving $200, Dale Carnegie quit sales in 1911 in order to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a Chautauqua lecturer.

He ended up instead attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, but found little success as an actor, though it is written that he played the role of Dr. Hartley in a road show of Polly of the Circus.

There he got the idea to teach public speaking, and he persuaded the YMCA manager to allow him to instruct a class in return for 80% of the net proceeds.

Carnegie had tapped into the average American's desire to have more self-confidence, and by 1914, he was earning $500 (about $15200 today) every week.

[19] Carnegie died of Hodgkin lymphoma on November 1, 1955, at his home in Forest Hills, New York.