Born in the small southeastern Kansas town of Caney, Kenneth McFarland received a bachelor’s degree from Pittsburg State College of Kansas in 1927. He received his Master’s degree at Columbia University in 1931 and a doctorate from Stanford University in 1940.

McFarland served as principal in Cherryvale, Kansas and then superintendent of schools in Coffeyville and Anthony, Kansas. He designed and built a trade school in Coffeyville, Kansas, named in his honor. The McFarland Trade School changed its name in 1965 to the Southeast Kansas Area Vocational-Technical School.)

From the 1950s McFarland was engaged as a public speaker and lecturer for the General Motors Corporation, and Readers Digest. He received numerous awards from politically conservative civic and business-oriented organizations for his support of free enterprise and salesmanship.

McFarland authored the speaking guide, “Eloquence in Public Speaking, How to Set Your Words on Fire” (1963). He also published 26 addresses recorded live. His speeches consistently used humor, as well as engaging speaking techniques of alliteration (“Take me to your ladder lady, I’ll see your leader later”) and vocal techniques to make for remarkable speeches such as his “Ropes of Gold,” “The Lamplighters,” “America’s Opportunity,” “Wake the Town and Tell the People,” “Selling America to Americans,” “The Eagle Has Landed,” and “America’s Opportunity.”

Along with Frank Emerson Harris, he produced a series of booklets on the preservation of “basic Americanism,” regarded as an expression of modern political conservatism.

According to his published obituary McFarland received many prestigious speaking awards:

• Freedom Foundation’s National Leadership Award and Free Enterprise Exemplar Medal
• American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award
• Honorary Member: America’s Number One Rotary Club, Chicago
• America’s Number One Air Passenger (for flying more than any other passenger on American Airlines)
• Sales and Marketing Executives International’s Outstanding Salesman of America
• Honorary Member, Fraternal Order of Police
• Optimist International’s Highest Honor: The International President’s Award
• Toastmaster International’s Golden Gavel Award for Excellence in Communications and Leadership
• Named Quote Magazine’s list of 10 Most Quotable Public Speakers