John Romulus Brinkley (later John Richard Brinkley) was born July 8, 1885 in Jackson County, North Carolina. He attended Chicago's Bennett Medical College, and the Eclectic Medical University at Kansas City, Kansas. After passing the Arkansas Eclectic Medical Board examination in 1915, he established a medical practice at Milford, Kansas, performing operations which Brinkley claimed would restore male virility and fertility through the implantation of goat glands. Through active advertising of his methods, Brinkley amassed a fortune, establishing the Brinkley Hospital and radio station KFKB at Milford.

In 1930, Brinkley's medical license was revoked by the Kansas State Medical Board, and in that same year the Federal Radio Commission did not renew his station’s broadcasting license. Brinkley's lawsuit against the commission became a landmark case in broadcast law. Brinkley ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Kansas in 1930, 1932, and 1934. In 1933, he moved his medical practice to Del Rio, Texas, where he campaigned for Kansas Governor via his "border blaster" radio station. Brinkley died on May 26, 1941 at San Antonio, Texas.