Life of Will Rogers, America's Favorite Son
Oklahoma Humorist, Writer and Social Philosopher from Claremore OK
Sep 2, 2008
Born William Penn Adair Rogers in Oologah, Indian Territory November 4, 1879, Will Rogers was the youngest of eight children of Clement Vann and Mary America Schrimsher Rogers. Both parents were part Cherokee, his mother, the daughter of a Cherokee Chief, which prompted Rogers to later quip, “My ancestors didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat.”
Young Will Rogers
Growing up on an Oklahoma ranch in the 1880’s, Rogers learned how to break horses and use a lariat or lasso as both a practical tool and as a means of entertainment. He attended Kemper Military School in Missouri, but found he preferred roping to reading and quit school after the tenth grade.
For several years, Rogers traveled the world, working as a cowboy and using his talent with the lariat to rope himself a place in show business in "Texas Jack’s Wild West Show." After traveling in Argentina, South Africa and Australia, he returned to the United States in 1904 and moved on to vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1918 he began acting in silent movies. His first one titled Laughing Bill Hyde, started a movie career that made Will Rogers America's most popular and highest paid movie star.
Will Rogers Writer and Pundit
In 1908, Will married Betty Blake from Rogers, Arkansas, after an eight year friendship. The couple had four children, the oldest of whom, Will Jr., was elected to Congress before serving under General Patton in WWII. He later acted in several movies, playing his father in one of them.
Meanwhile, Rogers began writing newspaper columns and landed a spot on radio delivering his home homespun philosophy and political barbs to an appreciative audience. He called politics “the best show in the world,” and referred to Congress as the “national joke factory.”
Rogers was extremely interested in aviation and was one of the first coast to coast commercial passengers. In 1935, he set out with aviator Wiley Post on a round the world flight. The plane went down in Barrow, Alaska August 15, 1935 and America lost a true Native Son. Both Will and Betty Rogers are buried at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma.
Will Rogers Quotes
Will Rogers’ most famous quote, which can be seen on his tombstone, was “I never met a man I didn’t like.” In his writings and on the radio, he diligently poked fun at Congress and the government, sparing no one. He once said, “If a man wants to stand well socially, he can’t afford to be seen with either the Democrats or the Republicans.”
In 1932, Rogers was nominated for President at the Democratic Convention, losing to Franklin Roosevelt on the fourth ballot. In honor of the man who helped seal the 1932 election for the Democrats, the "Will Rogers Caucus" of delegates pledged to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton presented the Will Rogers Platform for America at the 2008 Democratic Convention.
In Will Rogers’ words, “This would be a great time in the world for some man to come along that knew something.”
To learn more about Will Rogers, visit the Will Rogers Memorial Museums, 1720 West Will Rogers Boulevard, Claremore, Oklahoma, (800) 324-9455.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
