Born in Tennessee, he graduated from Amherst College in 1907. He worked as a publicist and magazine editor before co-founding the BBDO advertising agency in 1919. He headed the agency until 1961, building it into one of the industry's leaders. Among other famous campaigns, he created the character of "Betty Crocker." Politically conservative, he offered his public relations expertise to many Republican candidates over the years. A staunch opponent of Roosevelt and the New Deal, he served two terms in the House of Representatives (1937-1941).
Barton was most famous, however, as the author of many bestselling guides to personal success. He also wrote literally hundreds of articles for popular magazines, offering readers advice and inspiration for pursuing the American dream. His most famous book, The Man Nobody Knows (1925), depicted Jesus Christ as a successful salesman, publicist and role model for the modern businessman. One historian writes, "Barton believed incurably in material progress, in self-improvement, in individualism, and in the Judeo-Christian ethic, and none of the profound crises through which his generation lived appreciably changed the tenor of his writings or their capacity to reflect what masses of Americans, optimists in the progressive tradition, apparently continued to want to hear."
SOURCES: Encyclopedia of American Biography; Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography. |
