Norman Vincent Peale

{{short description|American minister, author, and positive thinking proponent}}
{{Redirect|The Art of Living|other uses|Art of Living (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date = August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Norman Vincent Peale
| image            = Norman Vincent Peale NYWTS.jpg
| imagesize        = 250px
| caption          = Peale in 1966
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1898|05|31}}
| birth_place      = [[Bowersville, Ohio]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1993|12|24|1898|05|31}}
| death_place      = [[Pawling (village), New York|Pawling, New York]]
| occupation       = Author, [[Motivational speaker|speaker]], {{br}}[[Reformed Church in America]] [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]]
| nationality      = American
| period           = 
| genre            = [[Motivational]]
| subject          = [[Optimism|Positive thinking]]
| movement         = 
| signature        = 
| website          = 
| spouse           = {{Marriage|[[Ruth Stafford Peale|Ruth Stafford]]|1930}}
}}

'''Norman Vincent Peale''' (May 31, 1898&nbsp;– December 24, 1993) was an American [[Protestantism in the United States|Protestant]] clergyman,<ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> and an author best known for popularizing the concept of [[Positive mental attitude|positive thinking]], especially through his best-selling book ''[[The Power of Positive Thinking]]'' (1952). He served as the pastor of [[Marble Collegiate Church]], New York, from 1932, leading this [[Reformed Church in America]] congregation for more than a half century until his retirement in 1984. Alongside his pulpit ministry, he had an extensive career of writing and editing, and radio and television presentations. Despite arguing at times against involvement of clergy in politics, he nevertheless had some controversial affiliations with politically active organizations in the late 1930s, and engaged with national political candidates and their campaigns, having influence on some, including a personal friendship with President [[Richard Nixon]].

Peale led a group opposing the election of [[John F. Kennedy]] for president, saying, "Faced with the election of a Catholic, our culture is at stake."<ref name="Newsweek"/> Theologian [[Reinhold Niebuhr]] responded that Peale was motivated by "blind prejudice,"<ref name="Newsweek"/> and facing intense public criticism, Peale retracted his statement. He also opposed Adlai Stevenson's candidacy for president because he was divorced, which led Stevenson to famously quip, "I find [[Saint Paul]] appealing and Saint Peale appalling."<ref name=gagorder/>

Following the publication of Peale's 1952 best seller, his ideas became the focus of criticism from several psychiatric professionals, church theologians and leaders. Peale was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the highest civilian honor in the United States, on March 26, 1984, by President [[Ronald Reagan]]. He died at age 95, following a stroke, on December 24, 1993, in [[Pawling (village), New York|Pawling, New York]]. He was survived by [[Ruth Stafford Peale|Ruth Stafford]], his wife of 63 years, who had influenced him with regard to the publication of ''The Power'' in 1952, and with whom he had founded ''[[Guideposts]]'' in 1945; Ruth died on February 6, 2008, at the age of 101.

==Early life and education==
[[File:World War I Draft Registration Card for Norman Vincent Peale - NARA - 641782.gif|thumb|150px|Peale's World War I draft card]]
Peale was born in [[Bowersville, Ohio]] on May 31, 1898,<ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP>{{cite encyclopedia |author = Eds. Encycl. Brit. | date=2008 | title=Norman Vincent Peale | encyclopedia=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia | location = Chicago, Ill. | publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. | page =1462 | isbn = 9781593394929 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ea-bAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1462 | access-date = January 26, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/26/obituaries/norman-vincent-peale-preacher-of-gospel-optimism-dies-at-95.html|title=Norman Vincent Peale, Preacher of Gospel Optimism, Dies at 95|last=Vecsey|first=George|date=December 26, 1993|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=August 10, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> the eldest of three sons of Charles and Anna (née Delaney) Peale.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}} Charles was a physician-turned-Methodist minister in southern Ohio,<ref name=":0"/> and as such, his three sons were raised as [[Methodist]]s.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}

Peale graduated from [[Bellefontaine High School]], [[Bellefontaine, Ohio]] in 1916.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesgazette.com/2022/01/06/peale-had-highland-co-ties/|title=Peale had Highland Co. Ties|last=Wolgamott|first=Jackie|date=January 6, 2022|website=The Times-Gazette|access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> He attended and earned a degree at [[Ohio Wesleyan University]],<ref name=":0"/><ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> where he became a brother at the [[Phi Gamma Delta]] fraternity.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}} He also began to attend [[Boston University School of Theology]].<ref name=":0"/>

==Career==
===Beginnings===
{{one source | section | date = January 2022}}
Serving as a pulpit replacement in a subsequent summer break (for an Ohio church pastor that had fallen ill), the Boston theology trainee was persuaded by his father to abandon the formal preaching style of his training for one of simplicity, which led Peale to talk about "[[Jesus Christ]]... relat[ing him] to the simplicities of human lives," and which led, he would later recollect, to a "good reception" and "look[s] of gratitude and goodness" on the faces of congregants.<ref name=":0" /> Leaving school thereafter to earn needed funds, Peale would work in journalism at ''[[The Detroit Journal]]'', after a year of reporting in [[Findlay, Ohio]] at ''The Morning Republican''.<ref name=":0" /> Leaving journalism, Peale returned his focus to ministry, and in 1922<ref name=":0" /> was ordained a pastor in the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> After a first assignment in Rhode Island, at an unknown church in [[Berkeley, Rhode Island|Berkeley]],<ref name=":0" /> he accepted a call to [[Brooklyn]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> where, in 1924, his work from the pulpit, and in general, boosted its membership more than twenty-fold within a year, leading the small congregation to build a new church.<ref name=":0" />

He received a call to Syracuse, New York<ref name=":0" /><ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> and in 1927 took the pulpit at the University Methodist Church;<ref name=":0" /> it was also while there that he became one of the first American clergymen to bring his sermons to the emerging commercial technology of radio,<ref name=":0" />{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}<!--need to substantiate "emerging commercial technology".--> a media decision that added to his general popularity, and that he would later extend in the same way to television.<ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> During the [[Great Depression|Depression]], Peale teamed up with [[J.C. Penney]] & Co. founder [[James Cash Penney]], radio personality [[Arthur Godfrey]], and [[IBM]] founder and President [[Thomas J. Watson]], forming (and sitting the first board of) [[40Plus]], an organization aimed at helping unemployed managers and executives.{{Citation needed|date = August 2015}} On June 20, 1930, Peale married Loretta Ruth Stafford.{{who|date = January 2022}}{{where|date = January 2022}}<ref name=":0" />

In 1932 or 1933 he was called to the [[Marble Collegiate Church]] in New York City,<ref name=":0" /><ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> a call which required that he "switch his denomination"<ref name=":0" />—for a clergyman, transfer his ordination{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}—to the [[Reformed Church in America]], "a transfer made... with no apparent problem for him".<ref name=":0" /> His tenure at [[Marble Collegiate Church]], which dated to 1628 and was "said to be the oldest continuous Protestant congregation in the country",<ref name=":0" /> began with an attendance at service of 200, but which would grow to thousands, as a result of his "spirited sermons".<ref name=":0" /> Peale would remain at Marble until his retirement from pastoral work,<ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marblechurch.org/welcome/history/|title=History - Welcome - Marble Collegiate Church|website=www.marblechurch.org|access-date=October 25, 2019|archive-date=October 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025141707/http://www.marblechurch.org/welcome/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His theology was controversial, and prominent theologians such as Ronald Niebuhr and William Miller spoke out publicly against it. They contended that Peale's theology falsely represented Christianity and that Peale's writings and sermons were factually false as well. Niebuhr said "This new cult is dangerous. Anything which corrupts the Gospel hurts Christianity. And it hurts people too."<ref name=Peters/> William Miller Wrote that Peale's theology is "hard on the truth," full of undocumented claims, and after reviewing Peale's entire library of books, said "the later ones are worse."{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

===Early association with psychiatry===
Following the [[stock market crash of 1929|1929 market crash]], and being presented with congregants with "complex problems" (as Peale would later recount), his wife, [[Ruth Stafford Peale]], counseled him to "fin[d] a psychiatrist who could help parish members," which he did through consultation with his physician, Clarence W. Lieb.<ref name=":0" /> Peale was introduced to a [[Freudian]] who had trained in psychiatry in [[Vienna]], Smiley Blanton, who Peale later recalled as saying, "I've been praying for years that some minister would see that psychiatry and religion... should work together" (in response to being asked about his believing in the "power of prayer").{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The two men wrote books together, notably ''Faith Is the Answer: A Psychiatrist and a Pastor Discuss Your Problems'' (1940). The book was written in alternating chapters, with Blanton writing one chapter, then Peale. Blanton espoused no particular religious point of view in his chapters. In 1951 this clinic of [[psychotherapy]] and religion grew into the American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry, with Peale serving as president and Blanton as executive director.<ref>[http://www.answers.com/library/Britannica%20Concise%20Encyclopedia-cid-1792895319 Answers.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119170903/http://www.answers.com/library/Britannica%20Concise%20Encyclopedia-cid-1792895319 |date=January 19, 2012 }}, from ''Britannica Concise Encyclopedia''</ref> Blanton handled difficult psychiatric cases and Peale, who had no mental health credentials, handled religious issues.<ref name=meyer_positive>{{cite book|first=Donald|last=Meyer|title=The Positive Thinkers|url=https://archive.org/details/positivethinkers0000meye_c2l9|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Pantheon Books]]|location=New York City|date=1965|isbn=978-0394738994}}</ref>

When Peale came under heavy criticism from the mental health community for his book ''The Power of Positive Thinking'' (1952), Blanton distanced himself from Peale and refused to publicly endorse the book. Blanton did not allow Peale to use his name in ''The Power of Positive Thinking'' and declined to defend Peale publicly when he came under criticism. As scholar Donald Meyer describes it: "Peale evidently imagined that he marched with Blanton in their joint labors in the Religio-psychiatric Institute. This was not exactly so.":<ref name=meyer_positive/> 266  Meyer notes that Blanton's own book, Love or Perish (1956), "contrasted so distinctly at so many points with the Peale evangel" of "positive thinking" that these works had virtually nothing in common.:<ref name=meyer_positive/> 273

===Radio and publishing===
In the same period, Peale returned to the radio work that he began in Syracuse, as a means to deal with what he termed a personal obsession, "reach[ing] as many people as I could with the message of Jesus Christ."<ref name=":0" /> His first programs in New York City began in 1935, an effort which led to the [[National Council of Churches]] sponsoring a program on the [[NBC Radio Network]] entitled ''The Art of Living'', which would grow to reach millions.<ref name=":0" />

This title then became the same as first of his books from New York City, in 1937, from [[Abingdon Press]], which spoke of a power that individuals had within themselves that they could "tap" through "applied Christianity".<ref name=":0" /> With the advent of war in 1939, his second book appeared from Abingdon, ''"You Can Win'', which spoke of the tensions of life, the possibility of self-mastery, and ones being one unconquerable with God.<ref name=":0" /> Despite a clear and apparent philosophy and message, the books did not "advis[e] people how to apply [the ideas] to their lives," and they did not sell well.<ref name=":0" /> (Some of his other works include ''The Tough-Minded Optimist'',{{when|date = January 2022}} and ''Inspiring Messages for Daily Living''.{{when|date = January 2022}}{{Citation needed|date = August 2015}}) By the end of [[World War II]] in 1945, Peale, his wife [[Ruth Stafford Peale|Ruth]], and Raymond Thornburg (a businessman from [[Pawling (town), New York|Pawling, New York]]), had founded ''[[Guideposts]]'' magazine, a non-denominational forum that presented inspirational stories.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}

With the end of the [[World War II|war]]—which was marked, in the words of George Vecsey, writing in ''[[The New York Times]]'', by Americans having "some leeway to question what they believed and how they should live"—Peale achieved his first best seller, published with Prentice-Hall in 1948, a [[self-help]] book entitled ''A Guide for Confident Living'' that brought religion to bear on personal problems.<ref name=":0" /> This was followed soon thereafter by the book for which he is most widely known, ''[[The Power of Positive Thinking]]''; as Vecsey describes it, it arose from a draft book that Ruth Peale "sent to [an] editor without her husband's knowledge", and this usurpation led to a book that would remain on best seller lists for more than three years, which "rank[ed] it... behind the Bible... as one of the highest-selling spiritual books in history".<ref name=":0" />

Vecsey was careful to categorize Peale's book as a best seller in the narrow "spiritual books" category rather than comparing it to the much larger sales figures of the non-fiction or self-help categories. First published in 1952, it stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 186<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/31/nyregion/chronicle-254657.html | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=Chronicle | first=Ron | last=Alexander | date=May 31, 1994 | access-date=May 20, 2010}}</ref> consecutive weeks, and according to the publisher, Simon and Schuster, the book has sold around 5 million copies. The fact that the book has sold 5 million copies is printed on the cover of the current edition in both paperback and hard cover, and directly contradicts exaggerated claims that the book has sold more than 20 million copies<ref name="desmoinesreg">from the [https://archive.today/20130121190333/http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/FAMOUSIOWANS/807130350/-1/famousiowans Des Moines Register website] in an article dated October 8, 2008</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-feb-08-me-peale8-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 8, 2008 |title=Pastor's wife co-founded Guideposts }}</ref> in 42 languages.<ref name="desmoinesreg" /> The publisher also contradicts the translation claim, saying the book has been translated into only 15 languages.<ref>publisher's statement on amazon.com describing several TPOPT books, tapes and other media</ref> Nearly half of the sales of the book (2.1 mil.) occurred before 1958,<ref>{{cite news |title=Pitchman in the Pulpit |last=Fuller |first=Edmund |author-link=Edmund Fuller|work=[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|Saturday Review]]|date=March 19, 1957 |pages=28–30 }}</ref> and by 1963, the book had still only sold 2 million copies according to Peale.<ref>''The Power of Positive Thinking'', Fawcett Crest, 1963, pp. vii.</ref> Since then, the book has sold less than 3 million copies over the past 60 years. Some of his other popular works include The Art of Living, A Guide to Confident Living, The Tough-Minded Optimist, and Inspiring Messages for Daily Living.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The Peale radio program, ''The Art of Living'', was ongoing, and would continue for 54 years, and under the continued and evolving sponsorship of the National Council of Churches, he moved into television when the new medium arrived.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}} In the meantime he continued to write books and to edit ''[[Guideposts (magazine)|Guideposts]]'' magazine. As well, his [[sermons]] went out monthly to an extensive mailing list.<ref>[http://www.usdreams.com/Peale28.html USdreams.com Norman Vincent Peale: Turning America On To Positive Thinking]</ref>

===Organizations===
{{expand section | with = a succinct, NPOV description of major organizations that secondary sources describe Peale as having had documented affiliations, before, through, and after the second world war | small = no | date = January 2022}}

In 1947 Peale and educator Kenneth Beebe co-founded The [[Horatio Alger, Jr.|Horatio Alger]] Association, an organisation that aimed to recognize and honor Americans successful in spite of difficult circumstances.{{Citation needed|date = August 2015}} Other organizations founded by Peale include the Peale Center, the Positive Thinking Foundation, and [[Guideposts|Guideposts Publications]], all of which aim to promote Peale's theories about positive thinking.{{Citation needed|date = August 2015}}

==Personal life==
Peale was close to President Richard Nixon's family, and officiated at the 1968 wedding of [[Julie Nixon]] and [[David Eisenhower]].{{Citation needed|date = August 2015}} He continued calling at the White House throughout the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate crisis]],{{Citation needed|date = August 2015}} and was quoted as saying "Christ didn't shy away from people in trouble."{{Cite quote|date = August 2015}}

Peale was a 33-degree [[Freemason]] of the [[Scottish Rite]].<ref>{{cite web|author = Staff of The Supreme Council, 33° | date = November 30, 2016 | title = Temple Architects Hall of Honor | work = ScottishRite.org | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = The Supreme Council, 33°, A. & A.S.R. of Freemasonry, S.J., U.S.A. | url = https://scottishrite.org/headquarters/virtual-tour/temple-architects-hall-of-honor/ | access-date=November 30, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201135238/https://scottishrite.org/headquarters/virtual-tour/temple-architects-hall-of-honor/ | archive-date=December 1, 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Later life==
President [[Ronald Reagan]] awarded Peale the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (the highest civilian honor in the United States) on March 26, 1984, for his contributions to the field of theology.<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/intribute00tedt/page/141 141]|last=Tobias|first=Ted|title=In tribute: eulogies of famous people|isbn=0-8108-3537-1|url=https://archive.org/details/intribute00tedt/page/141|year=1999|publisher=Scarecrow Press }}</ref>{{verification needed|date = January 2022}}

Peale died at age 95 following a stroke, on December 24, 1993, in [[Pawling (village), New York|Pawling, New York]]<ref name=":0" /><ref name = BritConciseEncycl_NVP/> He was survived by his wife of 63 years, [[Ruth Stafford Peale]], who had influenced him with regard to the publication of ''The Power'' in 1952, and with regard to his early interactions with psychiatry, and with whom he had founded ''[[Guideposts]]'' (of which she was chairman emeritus, and which had an annual readership of 8 million in 2008); she died on February 6, 2008, at the age of 101.<ref name = RuthObit>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> | date = February 8, 2008 | title = Obituary: Pastor's Wife Co-Founded Guideposts | newspaper = [[LATimes.com]] | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-feb-08-me-peale8-story.html | access-date = January 26, 2022 }}</ref>

== Criticism and controversies ==


===General and psychological critique===
Peale's works were criticized by several mental health experts who denounced his writings as bad for mental health, and concluded that Peale was a "con man and a fraud,"<ref>Park, "Superstition"</ref> and a "Confidence Man."<ref name=meyer_conman>Donald Meyer, "Confidence Man", ''New Republic'', July 11, 1955, pp 8-10</ref> These critics appeared in the early 1950s after the publication of The Power of Positive Thinking.

One critique of The Power of Positive Thinking noted that the book contained anecdotes that are hard to substantiate. Critics noted many of the testimonials that Peale quoted as supporting his philosophy were unnamed, unknown and unsourced. Examples included a "famous psychologist,"<ref name=book>Power of Positive Thinking</ref>{{rp|52}}  a two-page letter from a "practicing physician",<ref name=book/>{{rp|150}}  another "famous psychologist",<ref name=book/>{{rp|169}} a "prominent citizen of New York City",<ref name=book/>{{rp|88}} and dozens, if not hundreds, more unverifiable quotations. Similar scientific studies of questionable validity are also cited. As psychiatrist R.C. Murphy wrote, "All this advertising is vindicated as it were, by a strict cleaving to the side of part truth," and referred to the work and the quoted material as "implausible and woodenly pious".<ref name="murphy">{{cite magazine|first=R.C.|last=Murphy|title=Think Right: Reverend Peale's Panacea|magazine=[[The Nation]]|date=May 7, 1955|pages=398–400}}</ref> Peale's works were criticized by several mental health experts who declared his writings were actually bad for mental health, concluding that Peale was a "con man and a fraud,"<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert L.|last=Park|author-link=Robert L. Park|date=2009|title=Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science|url=https://archive.org/details/superstitionbeli00park|url-access=limited|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=[https://archive.org/details/superstitionbeli00park/page/n139 127]|isbn=978-0-691-13355-3|quote=Peale's self-hypnosis technique was heavily criticized by mental health experts, who warned that it was dangerous. Critics denounced him as a con man and a fraud. As a minister, however, Peale was spared from any requirement to prove his assertions.}}</ref> with his being referred to as a confidence man in the popular press in 1955.<ref name=meyer_conman/>

Agreeing with Murphy is William Lee Miller, a professor at the University of Virginia, who wrote an extensive article called “Some Negative Thinking About Norman Vincent Peale.” After reviewing the entire Peale library, Miller concluded that the books “are hard on the truth,” and that “the later books are worse” than the earlier ones. Miller challenged the plausibility and truthfulness of Peale's testimonials with “Great Men” in his books, almost all of whom were unnamed, unknown and unverifiable. <blockquote>“In Dr. Peale’s books these men turn out to talk just like Dr. Peale…. There is a continuing recurring episode in his books that goes like this: Peale meets Great Man; Peale humbly asks Great Man for his secret (his formula, technique); Great Man tells Peale his strikingly Peale-like secret (formula, technique)….”</blockquote>Miller also mocks the success formulas these “great men” reveal, such as the unnamed newspaper editor who credits repeating a single phrase [a technique in [[Self-hypnosis|auto-hypnosis]]] as the reason for his success. The unnamed editor's “secret is card in wallet with words to the effect that successful man is successful.” Miller explains, “There is never the suggestion that hard work might be involved in achievement. There are no demands on the reader.” Miller wrote “All this is hard on the truth, but it is good for the preacher’s popularity. It enables him to say exactly what his hearers want to hear.” Miller further mocks Peale's claims that his methods of “religion” are scientifically proven. Miller quotes Peale: “The laws are so precise and have been so often demonstrated… that religion may be said to form an exact science.” Peale provides no scientific evidence in his books to support this claim. He provides no evidence that his methods and “techniques” have been scientifically tested or proven to work. Miller goes on to note that there are no scientific references supporting Peale, no footnotes, no index, no bibliography, no recommendations for further readings, almost no evidence of any kind presented in the Peale books. Miller concluded that the Peale claims were untruthful and unsupported by evidence. Miller wrote that in order to gain followers “He [Peale] is willing to use without flinching the most blatant appeals and to promise without stint.”<ref>{{cite journal | author = Miller, William Lee | date = January 13, 1955 | title = Some Negative Thinking About Norman Vincent Peale | journal = The Reporter | volume = | issue = | pages = 19–24 | url = | access-date = | quote = }}{{full citation needed|date = January 2022}}</ref>{{full citation needed | date = January 2022}}

A second critique of Peale was that he attempted to conceal that his techniques for giving the reader absolute self-confidence and deliverance from suffering are a well known form of hypnosis, and that he persuaded his readers to follow his beliefs through a combination of false evidence and self-hypnosis ([[autosuggestion]]), disguised by the use of terms which may sound more benign from the reader's point of view ("techniques", "formulas", "methods", "prayers", and "prescriptions").<ref>Murphy, "Think Right"</ref><ref>Miller, "Some Negative"</ref> One author called Peale's book "The Bible of American autohypnotism".<ref name=meyer_positive/>{{rp|264}} While his techniques have been debated by [[psychologists]], Peale said his theological practice and strategy was directed more at self-analysis, forgiveness, character development, and growth<ref>{{cite book | author = Peale, Norman Vincent | date = 1976 | title = The Positive Principle Today: How to Renew and Sustain the Power of Positive | page = 183 | location = | publisher = | isbn = | url = | access-date = | quote = }}{{full citation needed|date = January 2022}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date = January 2022}} which has been suggested by some{{who|date = January 2022}} to be much like the teachings of the [[Jesuits]] of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite book|first=Henry Vincent|last=Gill|title=Jesuit Spirituality: Leading Ideas of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius|publisher=[[Gill (publisher)|M.H. Gill & Sons]]|location=Dublin, Ireland|asin=B0006ANI58|date=1935}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date = January 2022}}{{Original research inline|date = January 2022}}

Psychiatrist R. C. Murphy wrote "Self knowledge, in Mr. Peale's understanding is unequivocally bad: self hypnosis is good." Murphy added that repeated hypnosis defeats an individual's self-motivation, self-knowledge, unique sense of self, sense of reality, and ability to think critically. Murphy describes Peale's understanding of the mind as inaccurate, "without depth", and his description of the workings of the mind and the [[unconscious mind|unconscious]] as deceptively simplistic and false: "It is the very shallowness of his concept of 'person' that makes his rules appear easy&nbsp;... If the unconscious of man&nbsp;... can be conceptualized as a container for a small number of psychic fragments, then ideas like 'mind-drainage' follow. So does the reliance on self-hypnosis, which is the cornerstone of Mr. Peale's philosophy.'"<ref name="murphy"/>

Psychologist [[Albert Ellis (psychologist)|Albert Ellis]],<ref name=opplll>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/aug/11/guardianobituaries.usa|title=Albert Ellis|first=Oliver|last=Burkeman|date=August 10, 2007|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> founder of the branch of psychology known as [[cognitive psychology]], compared the Peale techniques with those of French psychologist, hypnotherapist and pharmacist [[Émile Coué]], and Ellis said that the repeated use of these hypnotic techniques could lead to significant mental health problems. Ellis, ranked by the [[American Psychological Association]] as the second most influential psychologist of the 20th century (behind [[Carl Rogers]], but ahead of [[Sigmund Freud]]),<ref>ibid</ref> documented in several of his books the many individuals he has treated who suffered mental breakdowns from following Peale's teachings. Ellis described one of his case studies: <blockquote>"One of my 50-year-old clients, Sidney, read everything that Norman Vincent Peale ever wrote, went to many of his sermons at Marble Collegiate Church, and turned many of his friends onto trusting completely in God and in the Reverend Peale to cure them of all their ills. When some of these friends, in spite of their vigorous positive thinking, wound up in the mental hospital, and when Sidney had to turn to massive doses of tranquilizers to keep himself going, he became disillusioned..." </blockquote>Fortunately, Ellis' client began attending therapy and workshop groups at his clinic (The Albert Ellis Institute), and through [[cognitive behavioral therapy]] (at that time, known as [[Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy]], or REBT), he was able to improve his mental health and reduce his medications.<ref>How to Make Yourself Happy and Remarkably Less Disturbable, Impact Publishers, Copyright by the Albert Ellis Institute, 1999, p. 89.</ref> Ellis' writings repeatedly warn the public not to follow the Peale message. Ellis contends the Peale approach is dangerous, distorted, unrealistic. He compares the black or white view of life that Peale teaches to a psychological disorder ([[borderline personality disorder]]), perhaps implying that dangerous mental habits which he sees in the disorder may be brought on by following the teaching. "In the long run [Peale's teachings] lead to failure and disillusionment, and not only boomerang back against people, but often prejudice them against effective therapy."<ref>{{cite book|first=Albert|last=Ellis|author-link=Albert Ellis|title=Overcoming Resistance: Rational Emotive Therapy With Difficult Clients|url=https://archive.org/details/overcomingresist0000elli|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Springer (publisher)|Springer Publishing]]|location=New York City|date=1985|isbn=978-0826149107|page=[https://archive.org/details/overcomingresist0000elli/page/147 147]}}</ref>

A third critique was that Peale's philosophy was based on exaggerating the fears of his readers and followers, and that this exaggerated fear inevitably leads to aggression and the destruction of those considered "negative". Peale's views were critically reviewed in a 1955 article by psychiatrist R. C. Murphy, published in ''The Nation,'' titled "Think Right: Reverend Peale's Panacea".

{{blockquote|With saccharine terrorism, Mr. Peale refuses to allow his followers to hear, speak or see any evil. For him real human suffering does not exist; there is no such thing as murderous rage, suicidal despair, cruelty, lust, greed, mass poverty, or illiteracy. All these things he would dismiss as trivial mental processes which will evaporate if thoughts are simply turned into more cheerful channels. This attitude is so unpleasant it bears some search for its real meaning. It is clearly not a genuine denial of evil but rather a horror of it. A person turns his eyes away from human bestiality and the suffering it evokes only if he cannot stand to look at it. By doing so he affirms the evil to be absolute, he looks away only when he feels that nothing can be done about it&nbsp;... The belief in pure evil, an area of experience beyond the possibility of help or redemption, is automatically a summons to action: 'evil' means 'that which must be attacked&nbsp;... ' Between races for instance, this belief leads to prejudice. In child-rearing it drives parents into trying to obliterate rather than trying to nurture one or another area of the child's emerging personality&nbsp;... In international relationships it leads to war. As soon as a religious authority endorses our capacity for hatred, either by refusing to recognize unpleasantness in the style of Mr Peale or in the more classical style of setting up a nice comfortable [[Satan]] to hate, it lulls our struggles for growth to a standstill&nbsp;... Thus Mr Peale's book is not only inadequate for our needs but even undertakes to drown out the fragile inner voice which is the spur to inner growth.<ref name="murphy"/>}}

Donald B. Meyer seemed to agree with this assessment, presenting similar warnings of a religious nature. In his article "Confidence Man", Meyer wrote, "In more classic literature, this sort of pretension to mastery has often been thought to indicate an alliance with a Lower rather than a Higher power."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Donald B.|last=Meyer|title=The Confidence Man|magazine=[[The New Republic|New Republic]]|volume=133|issue=11|date=1955|pages=8–10}}</ref> The mastery Peale speaks of is not the mastery of skills or tasks, but the mastery of fleeing and avoiding one's own "negative thoughts". Meyer wrote, exaggerated fear inevitably leads to aggression: "Battle it is; Peale, in sublime betrayal of the aggression within his philosophy of peace, talks of 'shooting' prayers at people."<ref name=meyer_conman/>

Psychologist [[Martin Seligman]], former APA president and the founder of the branch of psychology known as [[Positive Psychology]], differentiated Peale's positive thinking from his own positive psychology, while acknowledging their common roots.

{{blockquote|It is important to see the difference: Is Positive Psychology just positive thinking warmed over? 
Positive Psychology has a philosophical connection to positive thinking, but not an empirical one. The [[Arminianism|Arminian]] Heresy (discussed at length in the notes for Chapter 5) is at the foundations of Methodism, and Norman Vincent Peale's positive thinking grows out of it. Positive Psychology is also tied at its foundations to the individual freely choosing, and in this sense both endeavors have common roots.

But Positive Psychology is also different in significant ways from positive thinking, in that Positive Psychology is based on scientific accuracy while positive thinking is not, and that positive thinking could even be fatal in the wrong circumstances.

First, positive thinking is an armchair activity. Positive Psychology, on the other hand, is tied to a program of empirical and replicable scientific activity. Second, Positive Psychology does not hold a brief for positivity. There is a balance sheet, and in spite of the many advantages of positive thinking, there are times when negative thinking is to be preferred. Although there are many studies that correlate positivity with later health, longevity, sociability, and success, the balance of the evidence suggests that in some situations negative thinking leads to more accuracy. Where accuracy is tied to potentially catastrophic outcomes (for example, when an airplane pilot is deciding whether to de-ice the wings of her airplane), we should all be pessimists. With these benefits in mind, Positive Psychology aims for the optimal balance between positive and negative thinking. Third, many leaders in the Positive Psychology movement have spent decades working on the "negative" side of things. Positive Psychology is a supplement to negative psychology, not a substitute.<ref>{{cite book|first=Martin|last=Seligman|author-link=Martin Seligman|title=Authentic Happiness|url=https://archive.org/details/authentichappine00seli_0|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]]|location=New York City|date=2002|page=[https://archive.org/details/authentichappine00seli_0/page/288 288]|isbn=9780743222976}}</ref>}}

Seligman went on to say "Positive thinking often involves trying to believe upbeat statements such as 'Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better,' in the absence of evidence or even in the face of contrary evidence. ... Learned optimism, in contrast, is about accuracy".<ref>Ibid, page 98</ref>

Another difference experts noted was that though Seligman describes his positive psychology as a self-empowering program completely within the ability of the individual to achieve on his or her own, experts described positive thinking as disempowering to the individual and a religion of weakness, where individuals are told by Peale they cannot overcome their negative circumstances without his autosuggestive "techniques," which he claims will give them the power of God. As Meyer quotes Peale as saying, "No man, however resourceful or pugnacious, is a match for so great an adversary as a hostile world. He is at best a puny and impotent creature quite at the mercy of the cosmic and social forces in the midst of which he dwells." Meyer noted that Peale always "reacted to the image of harshness with flight rather than competitive fight",<ref>Meyer, 1965, 261</ref> and the only solution Peale offers out of this state of helplessness are his autosuggestive "techniques", which he claims will give people the power of God. Meyer adds that the proof that positive thinking cannot work is that according to Peale, even with God's power on one's side, one still cannot face negative reality, which is always stronger.

Meyer, like Seligman, noted that such unrealistic thinking by a positive thinker could easily be fatal.

<blockquote>Faith that you could defeat an opponent who could run faster than you would be contemptible since it could only mean you expected God to lend you power He refused to lend your opponent or that you hoped your opponent lacked self-knowledge, lacked faith, and hence failed to use his real powers. Such faith could be fatal if it led you into competitions it would be fatal to lose. As for those competitions where luck or accident or providence might decide, certainly the faith which looked to luck or accident or providence would be contemptible, and also possibly fatal.<ref>Ibid, p.&nbsp;284</ref></blockquote>

=== Theological critique ===
[[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] theologian and future bishop, [[John McGill Krumm|John M. Krumm]], criticized Peale and the "heretical character" of his teaching on positive thinking. Krumm cites "the emphasis upon techniques such as the repetition of confident phrases... or the manipulation of certain mechanical devices", which he says "gives the impression of a thoroughly depersonalized religion. Very little is said about the sovereign mind and purpose of God; much is made of the things men can say to themselves and can do to bring about their ambitions and purposes." Krumm cautions that "The predominant use of impersonal symbols for God is a serious and dangerous invitation to regard man as the center of reality and the Divine Reality as an impersonal power, the use and purpose of which is determined by the man who takes hold of it and employs it as he thinks best."<ref>{{cite book|first=John M.|last=Krumm|author-link=John McGill Krumm|title=Modern Heresies|publisher=Seabury Press|location=San Francisco, California|date=1961|asin=B009NNUHOY|page=35}}</ref>

Theologian [[Reinhold Niebuhr]], professor of applied Christianity at the Union Theological Seminary, reported similar concerns about positive thinking. "This new cult is dangerous. Anything which corrupts the gospel hurts Christianity. And it hurts people too. It helps them to feel good while they are evading the real issues of life."<ref name=Peters>{{cite magazine|first=William|last=Peters|title=The Case against Easy Religion|magazine=[[Redbook]]|date=September 1955|pages=22–23, 92–94}}</ref>

[[Liston Pope]], Dean of Yale Divinity School, agreed with Neibuhr. "There is nothing humble or pious in the view this cult takes of God. God becomes sort of a master psychiatrist who will help you get out of your difficulties. The formulas and the constant reiteration of such themes as "You and God can do anything" are very nearly blasphemous."<ref>Ibid</ref>

[[Garfield Bromley Oxnam|G. Bromley Oxnam]], a Methodist bishop in Washington D.C., also weighed in with his concerns. "When you are told that if you follow seven easy rules you will become president of your company, you are being kidded. There just aren't that many openings. This kind of preaching is making Christianity a cult of success."<ref>Ibid</ref>

A. Powell Davies, pastor of All Souls' Unitarian Church, Washington D.C., added his view:

<blockquote>It has sort of a drug effect on people to be told they need not worry. They keep coming back for more. It keeps their minds on a superficial level and encourages emotional dependency. It is an escape from reality. People under stress do one of two things; seek shelter or respond to harsh reality by a deeper recognition of what they are up against. The people who flock to the 'peace of mind' preachers are seeking shelter. They don't want to face reality.<ref>Ibid, p.&nbsp;94</ref></blockquote>

[[William Lee Miller]], professor in religious studies at the University of Virginia, expressed similar concerns: "The absolute power that Dr. Peale's followers insist on granting to their Positive Thinking may betray, however, a note of desperation. The optimism is no longer the healthy-minded kind, looking at life whole and seeing it good, but an optimism arranged by a very careful and very anxious selection of the particular bits and pieces of reality one is willing to acknowledge. It is not the response of an expanding epoch when failure, loneliness, death, war, taxes, and the limitations and fragmentariness of all human striving are naturally far from consciousness, but of an anxious time when they are all too present in consciousness and must be thrust aside with slogans and "formulas," assaulted with clenched fists and gritted teeth, and battered down with the insistence on the power of Positive Thinking. The success striving is different, too. The Horatio Alger type seems to have had a simple, clear confidence in getting ahead by mastering a craft, by inventing something out in the barn, or by doing an outstanding job as office boy. The Peale fan has no such confidence and trusts less in such solid realities as ability and work and talent than in the ritual repetition of spirit lifters and thought conditioners written on cards and on the determined refusal to think gloomy thoughts.<ref>Miller, "Some Negative Thinking About Norman Vincent Peale."</ref>

In spite of the attacks, Peale did not resign from his church, though he threatened that he would repeatedly. He also never challenged or rebutted his critics directly. Meanwhile, his book ''The Power of Positive Thinking'' had stopped selling by 1958.<ref name="Fuller">{{cite magazine|first=Edmund|last=Fuller|author-link=Edmund Fuller|title=Pitchmen in the Pulpit|magazine=[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|Saturday Review]]|date=March 19, 1957|pages=28–30}}</ref> As Donald Meyer noted,

{{blockquote|It was evident that Peale had managed to tap wide audiences formed by prolonged changes in the tone and morale of American society, for whom the coherence of [[Protestantism]] even as late as the early twentieth century was not enough. His attackers did not fall short of declaring his Protestantism non-existent. Peale survived. As he himself recounted it, he found himself stunned by the attacks. Troubled, even considering the virtues of resigning his post, he entered his season of withdrawal. There he found his answer. His father assured him he must go on. Was he not, after all, helping millions? Besides, it was unheard of in a democratic society for a man to believe his lonely critics when millions had approved. And so he returned. How to Stay Alive Your Whole Life, Peale entitled his next book; what else was George Beard's neurasthenia but a form of half-living? Finally, in consistent exemplification of the logic of the new religion, Peale proved he was right as well by publishing the testimonies of those declaring that for them positive thinking had indeed worked. There was no particular reason to doubt them.<ref>Meyer, 1965, p. 265</ref>}}

Religious scholars, however, warned the public not to believe Peale just because he was a minister. They said the Peale message was not only false factually but also misrepresented Christianity. Reinhold Niebuhr told the public the Peale message was "a partial picture of Christianity, a sort of half-truth", and added "The basic sin of this cult is its egocentricity. It puts 'self' instead of the cross at the center of the picture".<ref name=Peters/> [[Edmund Fuller]], novelist, book critic, and book review editor of the Episcopal Churchnews took it a step further. "The Peale products and their like are equated blatantly with Christian teaching and preaching. They are represented as a revival or response in Christianity with which they have no valid connection. They influence, mislead and often disillusion sick, maladjusted, unhappy or ill-constructed people, obscuring for them the Christian realities. They offer easy comforts, easy solutions to problems and mysteries that sometimes perhaps, have no comforts or solutions at all, in glib, worldly terms. They offer a cheap 'happiness' in lieu of the joy Christianity can offer, sometimes in the midst of suffering. The panacea of positive thinking has been called by qualified people a positive hazard to the delicate marginal areas of mental health".<ref name="Fuller"/>

Meyer noted Peale's influence over his followers began when "Peale had 'discovered' the power of suggestion over the human mind, and therewith, had caught up with [[Henry Wood]], [[Charles Fillmore (Unity Church)|Charles Fillmore]], and [[Emmett Fox]], sixty forty and twenty years before him. He was teaching Mental Photography all over again. Thoughts were things".<ref>Ibid. p.&nbsp;264</ref> Meyer described Peale's religion: "Peale's aim in preaching positive thinking was not that of inducing contemplative states of Oneness nor of advancing self-insight nor of strengthening conscious will, let alone sensitizing people to their world. The clue lay here in Peale's reiterated concern that the operation of his positive thoughts and thought conditioners become 'automatic', that the individual truly become 'conditioned ...' But was the automated power of positive thinking liberty or just one more form of mind-cure hypnotism? Was this new power really health or simply further weakness disguised?"<ref>Ibid. p.&nbsp;268</ref> After considering all points of view, Meyer answered his own questions, and concluded positive thinking was a religion of "weakness". "Peale's phenomenal popularity represented a culture in impasse. The psychology for which the cult was also religion culminated the treatment of weakness by weakness".<ref>Ibid., p.&nbsp;258</ref>

===Political controversies===
====Peale and rightist/anti-semitic claims====
{{more citations needed section|date = January 2022}}
For a time,{{when|date = January 2022}} Peale was acting Chairman and Secretary of the [[National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government]] (NCUCG),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/rbml/lehman/pdfs/0719/ldpd_leh_0719_0027.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205170936/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/rbml/lehman/pdfs/0719/ldpd_leh_0719_0027.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{verification needed|date = January 2022}} a pressure group opposed to Franklin Roosevelt's policies.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}<!--put "right-wing" back in when you can quote it from a source.--> In 1938, he was summoned by a Senate Committee Investigating Lobbying Activities, to answer questions concerning the NCUCG's activities.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Beito, D., & Witcher, M. | date = 2016 | title = "New Deal Witch Hunt": The Buchanan Committee Investigation of the Committee for Constitutional Government | journal = The Independent Review | volume = 21 | issue = 1 | pages = 47–71 | jstor = 43999676 | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/43999676 | access-date = July 19, 2020}}</ref>{{verification needed|date = January 2022}}

Also. late in 1938, Peale appeared with [[Elizabeth Dilling]], the Reverend [[Edward Lodge Curran]], [[Francisco Franco]], and other <!--MORE "right wing"-using EDITORIALZING REMOVED-->figures at a "Mass Meeting and Pro-American Rally" (on October 30),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/10/30/99568668.pdf|title=Events Today|work=The New York Times }}</ref> at the [[Grand Hyatt New York|Commodore Hotel]] in New York; this event was later described by [[Arthur Derounian]] (John Roy Carlson) in his 1943 book ''[[Arthur Derounian#"Under Cover"|Under Cover]]''.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}} Rev. Curran was a known supporter of Franco and other right-wing causes,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> | date = February 16, 1974 | title = Obituary: Edward Curran, Right-Wing Priest | work = The New York Times| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/16/archives/edward-curran-rightwing-priest-anticommunist-supporter-of-coughlin.html | access-date = January 26, 2022 }}</ref> as well as being "an anti‐communist and... an advocate of the, 'social justice' credo of [[Charles Coughlin|Father [Charles] Coughlin]], who was eventually ordered, off the air by his superiors" (and who Peale had earlier called out and harshly criticized for his "bizarre demogogy" in 1935).<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> | date = May 13, 1935 | title = Dr. Peal Attacks Father Coughlin | work= The New York Times | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/05/13/94607620.html | access-date = January 26, 2022 }}</ref> Peale claimed to have been distressed by Derounian's book, that he had been badgered into giving the convocation (a pre-meeting prayer) by a parishioner, and that he had no idea of the nature of the rally.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} He further claimed to be particularly distressed at the association with Dilling.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} He considered but as was advised against filing a defamation case against the publisher, [[G P Putnam's Sons|Putnam's]], as it was not feasible given the fact that he had in fact delivered the convocation as described.<ref>{{cite book | author = George, Carol V. R. | year=1993 | title = God's Salesman: Norman Vincent Peale and the Power of Positive Thinking | pages = 170f | location = New York, New York | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 9780195074635 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JobZAAAAMAAJ | access-date = January 26, 2022 | quote = }}</ref>{{verification needed|date = January 2022}}

In 1943, after the U.S. entry into [[World War II]], Peale preached a sermon denouncing antisemitism and demanding that the government and church take steps to "stamp it out."<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/11/08/85131928.pdf Peale Urges Action To End Anti-Semitism], New York Times November 8, 1943.</ref> As late as 1944, Peale was still described as the Chairman of the Committee for Constitutional Government, and had his signature appended to its publications.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

====Peale and Adlai Stevenson====
Peale is also remembered in politics because of the [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] quote: "I find [[Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul]] appealing and Saint Peale appalling." The origin of the quote can be traced back to the 1952 election, when Stevenson was informed by a reporter that Peale was accusing him of being unfit for the presidency because he was divorced. Later during his 1956 campaign for president against [[Dwight Eisenhower]], Stevenson was introduced at a speech with: "Gov. Stevenson, we want to make it clear you are here as a courtesy because Dr. Norman Vincent Peale has instructed us to vote for your opponent." Stevenson stepped to the podium and quipped, "Speaking as a Christian, I find the Apostle [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]] appealing and the Apostle Peale appalling."<ref name=gagorder>{{cite news|first=Dave|last=Hoekstra|title=A former president's gag order; Ford's symposium examines humor in the Oval Office|newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|date=September 28, 1986|page=22}}</ref> In 1960, a reporter asked Stevenson about a comment in which he denounced Peale for accusing [[John F. Kennedy]] of being unfit for the presidency because he was [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], to which Stevenson responded: "Yes, you can say that I find Paul appealing and Peale appalling."

Stevenson continued to lampoon Peale on the campaign trail in speeches for Kennedy. Though [[Richard Nixon]] and other Republicans tried to distance themselves from the furor which was caused by Peale's [[Anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic]] stance, Democrats did not let voters forget it. President [[Harry Truman]], for one, accused Nixon of tacitly approving Peale's anti-Catholic sentiment, and it remained a hot issue on the campaign trail.<ref name="Newsweek"/> Regarding Peale's intrusion into Republican politics, Stevenson said in this transcript of a speech given in San Francisco: "Richard Nixon has tried to step aside in favor of Norman Vincent Peale (APPLAUSE, LAUGHTER)&nbsp;... We can only surmise that Mr. Nixon has been reading 'The Power of Positive Thinking.' (APPLAUSE). America was not built by wishful thinking. It was built by realists, and it will not be saved by guess work and self-deception. It will only be saved by hard work and facing the facts."<ref>{{cite web|title=Transcript of Adlai Stevenson speech in San Francisco, 1960|website=Pacific Radio Archives|url=http://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/projects/transcripts/pdf/adlai_jfk.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127095208/http://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/projects/transcripts/pdf/adlai_jfk.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2010 }}</ref>

At a later date, according to one report, Stevenson and Peale met, and Stevenson apologized to Peale for any personal pain which his comments might have caused Peale, though Stevenson never publicly recanted the substance of his statements. There is no record of Peale apologizing to Stevenson for his attacks on Stevenson.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|176106898}} |last1=Buursma |first1=Bruce |title=Religion: Peale's still a positive power |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=27 October 1984 |page=8 }}</ref> It has been argued{{by whom|date=March 2022}} that even Peale's "positive thinking" message was by implication politically conservative: "The underlying assumption of Peale's teaching was that nearly all basic problems were personal."<ref>[http://www.answers.com/library/Britannica%20Concise%20Encyclopedia-cid-1792895319 Answers.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119170903/http://www.answers.com/library/Britannica%20Concise%20Encyclopedia-cid-1792895319 |date=January 19, 2012 }}, from ''Britannica Concise Encyclopedia'' starting with ''In 1960&nbsp;... ''</ref>

====Peale and John F. Kennedy====
Peale was invited to attend a strategy conference of about 30 [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]] in [[Montreux, Switzerland]], by its host, the well-known evangelist [[Billy Graham]], in mid-August 1960. There they agreed to kick off a group called The National Conference of Citizens for Religious Freedom in Washington the following month. On September 7, Peale served as its chairman and spoke for 150 [[Protestant]] clergymen, opposing the election of [[John F. Kennedy]] as president.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V5aZBgAAQBAJ |first=H. Larry |last=Ingle |title=Nixon's First Cover-up: The Religious Life of a Quaker President |pages=101–06 |publisher=[[University of Missouri Press]] |location=Columbia, Missouri|isbn=9780826273352 |date=July 7, 2015 }}</ref> "Faced with the election of a Catholic," Peale declared, "our culture is at stake."<ref name="Newsweek">{{cite magazine|title=The Religious Issue: Hot and Getting Hotter|magazine=[[Newsweek]]|date=September 19, 1960}}</ref>

In a written manifesto, Peale and his group also declared that Kennedy would serve the interests of the Catholic Church before he would serve the interests of the United States: "It is inconceivable that a Roman Catholic president would not be under extreme pressure by the hierarchy of his church to accede to its policies with respect to foreign interests," and the election of a Catholic might even end free speech in America.<ref name="Newsweek"/>

Protestant theologian [[Reinhold Niebuhr]] responded, "Dr. Peale and his associates&nbsp;... show blind [[prejudice]]."<ref name="Newsweek"/> Protestant Episcopal Bishop [[James Pike]] echoed Niebuhr: "Any argument which would rule out a Roman Catholic just because he is Roman Catholic is both bigotry and a violation of the [[First Amendment|constitutional guarantee of no religious test for public office]]."<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine|title=The Power Of Negative Thinking|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=September 19, 1960}}</ref> Peale's statement was also condemned by former President [[Harry Truman]], the Board of Rabbis, and other leading Protestants such as [[Paul Tillich]] and [[John C. Bennett]].<ref name="Time"/> Peale recanted his statements and he was later fired by his own committee. As conservative [[William F. Buckley]] described the fallout: "When&nbsp;... The Norman Vincent Peale Committee was organized, on the program that a vote for Kennedy was a vote to repeal the First Amendment to the Constitution, the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]] fired their Big Bertha, and Dr. Peale fled from the field, mortally wounded."<ref name="NatRev">{{cite magazine|first=William F.|last=Buckley|author-link=William F. Buckley|title=We Hold These Truths|magazine=[[National Review]]|date=January 28, 1961}}</ref> Peale subsequently went into hiding and threatened to resign from his church.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|title=Beliefs|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 31, 1992}}</ref> The fallout continued as Peale was condemned in a statement by one hundred religious leaders and dropped as a syndicated columnist by a dozen newspapers.<ref name="NYT"/>

== Influence ==
Five U.S, presidents ([[Richard Nixon]], [[Gerald Ford]], [[Jimmy Carter]], [[Ronald Reagan]], and [[George H. W. Bush]]) spoke well of Peale in the documentary about his life, ''Positive Thinking: The Norman Vincent Peale Story''.<ref name=Crouse>{{Cite web | people = | url=http://www.crouseentertainment.com/crouse-entertainment-productions/positive-thinking-the-norman-vincent-peale-story |title = Positive Thinking: The Norman Vincent Peale Story | location = | publisher = Crouse Entertainment Group | time = }}{{full citation needed|date = January 2022}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date = January 2022}}

The Reverend [[Billy Graham]] said at the [[National Council of Churches]] on June 12, 1966, that "I don't know of anyone who had done more for the kingdom of God than Norman and Ruth Peale or have meant any more in my life for the encouragement they have given me."<ref>Hayes Minnick, BFT Report No. 565 p. 28</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=March 2017}} Mary L. Trump in ''Too Much and Never Enough'' wrote that Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump, was heavily influenced by Peale, and that the Trump family regularly attended Peale's sermons during the 1950's.

As a child, [[Donald Trump]] attended Marble Collegiate Church with his parents, [[Fred Trump|Fred]] and [[Mary Anne MacLeod Trump|Mary]]. Both he and his two sisters, [[Maryanne Trump Barry|Maryanne]] and Elizabeth, were married there. Trump has repeatedly praised Peale and cited him as a formative influence.<ref name="trumppeale">{{cite web|first=Gwenda|last=Blair|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/donald-trump-2016-norman-vincent-peale-213220 |title=How Norman Vincent Peale Taught Donald Trump to Worship Himself|website=[[Politico]]|publisher=[[Capitol News Company]]|location=Arlington, Virginia|date=October 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?327045-5/presidential-candidate-donald-trump-family-leadership-summit|title=Presidential Candidate Donald Trump at the Family Leadership Summit|date=July 18, 2015|publisher=C-SPAN|accessdate=November 27, 2023}}</ref>

[[Scott Adams]], creator of ''[[Dilbert]]'', says Peale's writing influenced him to achieve success.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqcnDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 |title = Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter|isbn = 9780735219724|last1 = Adams|first1 = Scott|author-link=Scott Adams|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|location=New York City|date = 2017}}</ref>

At the invitation of [[Robert R. Spitzer]], former under-secretary in the Ford administration, Peale, accompanied by his wife, [[Ruth Stafford Peale|Ruth]], spoke several times to the student leaders at [[MSOE]] University prior to passing in 1993, influencing engineers, technical writers, managers, and architects for decades who today serve as executives in companies like [[GE]], [[Nvidia]], and many others.

== Cultural references ==
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* In ''Power of the Plus Factor'' (p.&nbsp;39) Peale states that one of the most remarkable men he ever met was the Palestinian [[Musa Alami]].
-->

===Dated entries===
* Peale is sarcastically referred to as a "deep philosopher" in the 1959 [[Tom Lehrer]] song "[[It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier]]" (on the album ''[[An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer]]'').{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* Peale was the subject of the 1964 feature film, ''[[One Man's Way]]'', starring [[Don Murray (actor)|Don Murray]].<ref>{{cite news | last =Thompson | first =Howard | title = One Man's Way' | newspaper =[[New York Times]] | location = | pages = | language = | publisher = | date =March 12, 1964 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/12/archives/one-mans-way.html | accessdate =September 19, 2022 }}</ref>
* A clip of Peale's radio program is heard briefly in the 1975 film ''[[Grey Gardens]]''.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* In the 2004 [[Niels Mueller]] film, ''[[The Assassination of Richard Nixon]]'', the Jack Jones character played by [[Jack Thompson (actor)|Jack Thompson]] tries to convince his employee Samuel J. Bicke ([[Sean Penn]]), a disillusioned salesman with a history of short-lived jobs, to truly believe in the products he is selling, and to follow the concept of positive thinking, he asking his son to give Bicke a couple of books, one of which is Peale's 1952 ''[[The Power of Positive Thinking|The Power...]]''.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* Peale appears as a character in the 2006 [[Grey Gardens (musical)|Grey Gardens musical]], based on the eponymous 1975 film.{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* A widely reprinted editorial in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' stated that the 2006 book and DVD ''[[The Secret (2006 film)|The Secret]]'' both borrow on Peale's ideas, and that ''The Secret'' suffers from some of the same weaknesses as Peale's works.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-feb-13-oe-klein13-story.html |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=January 13, 2007|title=Wish for a cake -- and eat it too |first=Karin |last=Klein |date=February 13, 2007 }}</ref>

===Undated entries===
<!--Move these up when the dates are added, establishing the proer order. Add citations at the same time!-->
* The ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'' episode "The Smell of Music" portrays a wounded soldier, [[Jordan Clarke (actor)|Jordan Clarke]], who rejects counsel from Col. [[Sherman Potter]] ([[Harry Morgan]]), saying, "Doc, if there's one thing I don't need right now it's Norman Vincent Peale, so... save that "Everything's Gonna Be All Right" speech for someone else."{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* Peale is referred to in the song "The [[John Birch Society]]" by the [[Chad Mitchell Trio]] ("Norman Vincent Peale may think he's kidding us along ... he keeps on preaching brotherhood, but we know what he means&nbsp;...").{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* In the "[[Treehouse of Horror VI]]" episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', a building with the sign "Birthplace of Norman Vincent Peale" is destroyed.{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* In the fourth episode ("The Bracelet") of the [[HBO]] show ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'', [[Larry David]] calls [[Richard Lewis (comedian)|Richard Lewis]] "Norman Vincent Lewis" after he says, "Every day is a great day for me."{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* In the musical ''[[Li'l Abner (musical)|Li'l Abner]]'', General Bullmoose is reminded to take his "Norman Vincent Peale pill", and declares he's "not taking those Peale pills anymore. They make me think too positive."{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* In the graphic novel ''[[Watchmen]]'', [[Adrian Veidt]] is described as being "a little Norman Vincent Peale" after a vague explanation of how he achieved success in wealth and fitness.{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* Peale was profiled in an episode of the CNN series ''[[Race for the White House]]'', entitled "John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon".{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* In ''[[Too Much and Never Enough]]'', [[Mary L. Trump]] described Peale as a charlatan.{{when|date = January 2022}}{{citation needed|date = January 2022}}
* In the video game ''[[Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II]], players see the quote "It's always too soon to quit!" from Peale upon death. {{when|date = October 2022}}{{citation needed|date = October 2022}}

== Selected works ==
* ''The Positive Power of Jesus Christ'' (1980) {{ISBN|0-8423-4875-1}}
* ''Stay Alive All Your Life'' (1957)
* ''Why Some Positive Thinkers Get Powerful Results'' (1987). {{ISBN|0-449-21359-5}}
* ''[[The Power of Positive Thinking]]'', [[Ballantine Books]]; Reissue edition (August 1, 1996). {{ISBN|0-449-91147-0}}
* ''Guide to Confident Living'', Ballantine Books; Reissue edition (September 1, 1996). {{ISBN|0-449-91192-6}}
* ''Six Attitudes for Winners'', [[Tyndale House Publishers]]; (May 1, 1990). {{ISBN|0-8423-5906-0}}
* ''Positive Thinking Every Day : An Inspiration for Each Day of the Year'', [[Fireside Books]]; (December 6, 1993). {{ISBN|0-671-86891-8}}
* ''Positive Imaging'', Ballantine Books; Reissue edition (September 1, 1996). {{ISBN|0-449-91164-0}}
* ''You Can If You Think You Can'', Fireside Books; (August 26, 1987). {{ISBN|0-671-76591-4}}
* ''Thought Conditioners'', Foundation for Christian; Reprint edition (December 1, 1989). {{ISBN|99910-38-92-2}}
* ''In God We Trust: A Positive Faith for Troubled Times'', [[Thomas Nelson Inc]]; Reprint edition (November 1, 1995). {{ISBN|0-7852-7675-0}}
* ''Norman Vincent Peale's Treasury of Courage and Confidence'', [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]; (June 1970). {{ISBN|0-385-07062-4}}
* ''My Favorite Hymns and the Stories Behind Them'', [[HarperCollins]]; 1st ed edition (September 1, 1994). {{ISBN|0-06-066463-0}}
* ''The Power of Positive Thinking for Young People'', [[Random House Children's Books]] (A Division of Random House Group); (December 31, 1955). {{ISBN|0-437-95110-3}}
* ''The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking'', Fireside; Fireside edition (March 12, 2003). {{ISBN|0-7432-3483-9}}
* ''Stay Alive All Your Life'', [[Fawcett Books]]; Reissue edition (August 1, 1996). {{ISBN|0-449-91204-3}}
* ''You Can Have God's Help with Daily Problems'', FCL Copyright 1956–1980 LOC card #7957646
* ''Faith Is the Answer: A Psychiatrist and a Pastor Discuss Your Problems'', Smiley Blanton and Norman Vincent Peale, [[Kessinger Publishing]] (March 28, 2007), {{ISBN|1-4325-7000-5}} (10), {{ISBN|978-1-4325-7000-2}} (13)
* ''Power of the Plus Factor'', A [[Fawcett Crest]] Book, Published by Ballantine Books, 1987, {{ISBN|0-449-21600-4}}
* ''This Incredible Century'', Peale Center for Christian Living, 1991, {{ISBN|0-8423-4615-5}}
* ''Sin, Sex and Self-Control'', 1977, {{ISBN|0-449-23583-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-449-23583-6}}, Fawcett (December 12, 1977)

== References ==
{{multiple issues | section = yes |
{{format citations | date = January 2022}}
{{full citations needed | date=January 2022}}
{{Ibid|date=May 2020}}
}}
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |author=George, Carol V. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JobZAAAAMAAJ |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |title=God's Salesman: Norman Vincent Peale & the Power of Positive Thinking |isbn=9780195074635 |year=1993 }}
* {{cite book |author=Christopher Lane|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vM6ADQAAQBAJ |publisher=Yale University Press |title=Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life |isbn=9780300203738 |year=2016 }}
* {{cite book |author=Donald B. Meyer|publisher=Wesleyan University Press |title=The Positive Thinkers: Popular Religious Psychology from Mary Baker Eddy to Norman Vincent Peale and Ronald Reagan |isbn=9780819561664 |year=1988 }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HaXtCwAAQBAJ |title = Transnational Popular Psychology and the Global Self-Help Industry: The Politics of Contemporary Social Change|isbn = 9780230370869|last1 = Nehring|first1 = Daniel|last2 = Alvarado|first2 = Emmanuel|last3 = Hendriks|first3 = Eric C.|last4 = Kerrigan|first4 = Dylan|date = April 8, 2016| publisher=Springer }}
* Orwig, Sarah Forbes. "Business Ethics and the Protestant Spirit: How Norman Vincent Peale Shaped the Religious Values of American Business Leaders." ''Journal of Business Ethics'' 38, no. 1/2 (June 2002): 81–89. [https://www-jstororg.avoserv2.library.fordham.edu/stable/25074779 online]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book |author=Timothy H. Sherwood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcodAAAAQBAJ |publisher=Lexington Books |title=The Rhetorical Leadership of Fulton J. Sheen, Norman Vincent Peale, and Billy Graham in the Age of Extremes |isbn=9780739174319 |date=August 15, 2013 }}
<!--* Vecsey, George. "Norman Vincent Peale, Preacher of Gospel Optimism, Dies at 95." ''New York Times,'' December 26, 1993. [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/26/obituaries/norman-vincent-pealepreacher-of-gospel-optimism-dies-at-95.html obituary].-->
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1177/0196859906298177 |title=Think About It: The Misbegotten Promise of Positive Thinking Discourse |year=2007 |last1=Woodstock |first1=Louise |journal=Journal of Communication Inquiry |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=166–189 |s2cid=145436993 }}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|Norman Vincent Peale}}
* {{Find a Grave|11389826}}

{{Authority control}}

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