Peale graduated from high school in Bellefontaine, Ohio, from college at Ohio Wesleyan University and received an advanced degree from the Boston University School of Theology.
His father was Charles Clifford Peale, a medical doctor who changed professions to became a Methodist minister. He served several congregations in Ohio including Bellefontaine and Findlay.
After completing his education, Norman Vincent Peale worked for the Morning Republican in Findlay and the Detroit Journal as a reporter. He then decided to become a minister and was ordained in 1922 in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
His first posting was in Berkeley, R.I., then Brooklyn, N.Y., followed by Syracuse, N.Y.
Peale married Loretta “Ruth” Stafford on June 20, 1930, in Syracuse. They had been introduced by her college roommate. Ruth, the daughter of a minister, had decided she did not want to marry a preacher. It took Peale two years to change her mind.
The couple had three children: Margaret Ann, John Stafford and Elizabeth Ruth.
Peale became the minister of the Marble Collegiate church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the oldest Protestant congregation in the country. He served from 1932-84. Peale became a Dutch Reformed Church member in order to preach at Marble Collegiate.
Richard Nixon was a member of Marble Collegiate. Peale performed the wedding of his daughter, Julie, to David Eisenhower.
Peale’s book “The Power of Positive Thinking” was published in 1952. After the Bible it became the highest selling spiritual book in history. It had been rejected by publishers, and Peale put it away. His wife sent it to another publisher, who accepted it. The book was widely popular but also received criticism.
The couple co-founded Guideposts magazine. They did a TV program called “What’s Your Trouble?,” and Peale produced a newspaper column named “Confident Living.”
Peale received many awards, including the Freedom Foundation Award, Horatio Alger Award, Clergyman of the Year in 1964 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Rev. Billy Graham in 1966 said, “I don’t know of anyone who had done more for the kingdom of God than Norman and Ruth Peale.”
A 1963 movie titled “One Man’s Way” was about Peale’s life.
He died at age 95 at their 20-acre Quaker Hill Farm in Pawling, N.Y., on Dec. 24, 1993. He and Ruth had been married for 63 years.
Ruth died at Quaker Hill on Feb. 6, 2008. They are both buried at Christ Church Cemetery in Pawling.
President Bill Clinton said after Peale’s death, “The name of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale will forever be associated with the wondrously American values of optimism and service.”
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