Amos Kendall had been the United States postmaster general for five years before the introduction of the telegraph. Although he had been a successful lawyer, journalis,t and politician, it wasn't until 1845 that Kendall's financial luck would change.
While Kendall was engaged as business manager by Samuel F. B. Morse to exploit Morse's newly invented telegraph, he wielded his influence and was both eager and able to sell the idea of telegraphy to the masses. During the next 15 years both men made fortunes.
As telegraph lines spread across the country it became increasingly possible for businessmen to grow and prosper. Journalists, among the first to send and receive messages along the new wires, could share and exchange breaking news. Eventually, the telegraph system would link city to country, east to west, north to south and ultimately continent to continent.