David V. (David Van) Bush

David V. Bush, also listed as David Van Bush, was an American reverend, poet, and author born in 1882 and remembered for a run of early 20th-century motivational and pop-psychology books. Library and public-domain records connect him with titles including Will Power and Success, Applied Psychology and Scientific Living, Practical Psychology and Sex Life, Affirmations and How to Use Them, and The Silence: What It Is and How To Use It.

Bush also served as a minister. Historical Society of Missouri records note that he presided over Memorial Congressional Church in St. Louis from 1917 to 1921, adding a pastoral side to a career that also included poetry and inspirational writing.

Today, he is mainly of interest as a vivid example of the early self-help tradition. Catalog and public-domain sources portray him as a prolific writer working where religion, positive thinking, and everyday advice met, and later readers have continued to find his books through Project Gutenberg, LibriVox, and major library collections.