How did Colonel Harland Sanders go from the Army to KFC?

Colonel Harland Sanders. Teenage Army enlistee who worked dozens of jobs, lost his restaurant at 65, and built Kentucky Fried Chicken from a Social Security check.

In the military

Enlisted October 1906 at age 16 after falsifying his date of birth; served as a wagoner (teamster) in Cuba, earning the Cuban Pacification Medal; honorably discharged February 1907. ‘Colonel’ is an honorary Kentucky Colonel title (1935), not a military rank.

The transition

• After his 1907 discharge he worked as a blacksmith’s helper, locomotive ash-pan cleaner, steam-engine stoker, railroad worker, insurance salesman and ferry company secretary, and studied law by correspondence.
• In 1930 Shell gave him a rent-free service station in North Corbin, Kentucky; he built Sanders Court and Cafe.
• First Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in 1952 in South Salt Lake, Utah.
• When Interstate 75 bypassed his restaurant he sold it at about 65 and, living on savings and $105 a month in Social Security, went all-in on franchising.
• Success came roughly 45 years after leaving the Army, after many restarts.

What came next

• Sold Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1964, at 73, for $2 million to investors led by John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack C. Massey.
• About 6,000 KFC outlets in 48 countries at his death in December 1980.

In Sanders’ own words

“If I hadn’t been 66 years old and had a $105 Social Security check coming in every month, I don’t know what I would have done.” (From his autobiography, as quoted by Snopes)

“To make a success of anything, it has to be genuine, no question about it. Ya can’t bluff through it.” (Stars and Stripes interview, Tokyo, June 1978)

“I believe a feller rusts when he quits workin’. So ya have to keep workin’ to keep the rust off.” (Stars and Stripes, Tokyo, June 1978, age 87)

“Don’t quit at age 65. Maybe your ship hasn’t come in yet. Mine didn’t until I was 66.” (Stars and Stripes, Tokyo, June 1978)

Lessons for your own transition

• Late is not too late: he started his greatest success in his mid-60s, about the age many 30-year veterans reach full retirement.
• A steady pension can be the runway, not the finish line; he used Social Security as a base to take a risk.
• Quality and authenticity scale: he insisted the product be genuine and uniform everywhere, the same standard discipline the military teaches.

More veterans who made the leap

See them all, and practical steps for leaving after a long career: How do I transition from the military to civilian work after 30 years?.