The Washington times., 1935-08-23
ROGERS JOKES
HIT HIGHEST
OFFICIALS

This l. the fifth inStdlment
of the life of Will Rogers by
James E. BroUn. In yesterdays
article, the Uriter discussed
Rogers from the point OF DieD
of his tellor0 actors and those
Uho were intimate tDith him IN
Private life.
BY JAMES E. BROWN
copyright, 1888. by International News
ServIce)
NEW YORK, Aug. % 0.N.So
Will Rogers once explained the
philosophy underlying his humor
in this manner:
"YOu folks know I never mean
anything by the cracks / make
here on politics. / generally hit
the fellow that's on top because
it isn't fair to hit a fellow that's
down. II 4 big man laughs at
jokes on him, he's all right"
Will believed that; it was his
creed, and he lived up to it. 1t
kept him universally popular.
gave him an enduring place in the
life of America, and made his loss
q personal grief to millions.
Yet only Will Rogers would
have dared, as principal speaker
at a bankers convention. to be-
gin his address by saying:
"YOu are as fine n group Of
men as ever fOreclOSed a mort
gage on q widow. 1 am glad to
be with you ShylOcks.
And made them like (which
they did. in high good humor.
Doomed For President
It is the fate of all humorists
for some people to take them liter
ally and to attempt to place them
in a serious role, and it happened,
of course, to Will. Some Of his
friends tried to boom him as a
possible presidential candidate.
He explained his GOODNESS by say
ing:
"a comedian can emily last
until he takes himself serious or
his audience takes him serious,
and l don't want either one Of
them to happen to me until I'm
dead-if then. So let's stop all
this fOOlishneSS right now"
During his career. he declined
nominations for the governorShlp
of both Oklahoma and California.
although he did serve as mayor
of Beverley Hills. Because of the
peculiar nature of that colony.
however, his position was less a
political office than it was an
honor conferred by fellow actors.
No Respecter of Title
No one else in the world was
guilty of such lese majestic as Will
Rogers. He had the plainSman's
indifference to rank and title-a
man had to stand on his own
merits to win Wills respect. and
even then he CONSIDERED no one
immune from criticism. Coolidge
made a perfect subject for Wills
humor, and the taciturn Vernon
ter usually took it Smingly, al
though once he did get angry for
a time at the uncanny accuracy
of Rogers imitation OF him over
the radio.
From the stage of a Washing
ton theater during the Harding
A ADMINISTRATION, he said:
II heard the Presidents
treaty message yesterday. I
thought it was about the best
speech Hughes ever wrote"
The next day, he called on Mr..
Harding, who told him some jokes
that had a familiar ring. Will
asked:
"Where did you hear those
jokes?"
"WeH, where did you tell
them?"
RaxZed Congress
Nor did anyone laugh louder
than President Roosevelt when
Will commented on his Cabinet
selections.
"Say, that list Of new Cabinet
members sent everybody Scurry-
ing through Who's Who and
the World Almanac and the
United States fingerprint depart
ment trying to find out who they
were. The forgotten man has
been found, and there was nine
Of them and a woman"
Congress was Rogers favorite
target. He once remarked:
81 might have gone to West
Point, but was too proud to
speak to a Congressman"
Rather than take sides on VIC
lently controversial questions. the
humoriSt usually confined himself
to broad observations, but when
forced to lean one way or the other
his influence was very great. Ad-
herentS of the United States join
ing the League Court name Will
Rogers as one of the most influ-
entail opponents of that measure.
Policeman Is Held