*Includes pictures.
*Includes dozens of Will Rogers' quotes about life, politics, and more.
*Includes a bibliography for further reading.
"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." - Will Rogers
A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.
Biographers of Will Rogers are always faced with a tough task, because the list of things Will Rogers didn't do is a much shorter one than the list of things he did. By the time he died in 1935 in a plane crash in Alaska, he was one of the most famous men in the world, and one of the most versatile celebrities. With a career spanning several decades and most of his life, Rogers not only dabbled in vaudeville, film, writing, and politics but reached the pinnacle of most of those professions, even if they were more like hobbies to him. By the 1930s, he was not only a syndicated columnist but also the highest paid actor in Hollywood and widely considered an important voice in the Democratic Party. Rogers was also frequently on the radio and frequently on the move, traveling around the world several times and traveling when he died.
While he was famous among his contemporaries for a wide variety of things, Will Rogers is still a household name nearly 80 years after his death. Even those who don't recall everything that he packed into his 55 years - the live shows, the movies, the radio broadcasts, and the 4,000 newspaper columns that were read by nearly a full third of the population - remember what Rogers stood for. While it was true that he came from a privileged background, he made his own way in the world, relying on a genuine style of honesty and approachability that made him popular even with those he teased. Politicians mostly accepted the barbs that came their way from Rogers' great wit, and it was part of the territory of being a public servant in his lifetime.
Rogers was no backwoods hayseed though. He was an insightful man who found a way to capitalize on the American love for the nostalgia of the West and become the voice for many who did not have the same platform that he did. Noted satirist H.L. Mencken said that Rogers was "the most dangerous man alive" because of the length of his reach, and he used that power to speak out on issues such as freedom of religion and speech, child labor reform. He even raised money for relief for poor African Americans affected by floodwaters in Mississippi.
American Legends: The Life of Will Rogers examines the life and career of one of America's most famous and beloved celebrities. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Will Rogers like never before, in no time at all.