Will Rogers was born in Oologah, Oklahoma, on this date in 1879.
A little of Rogers’ “cowboy philosophy” —
“There is no credit to being a comedian, when you have the whole government working for you. All you have to do is report the facts. I don’t even have to exaggerate.”
“I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat.”
“This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.”
“The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has.”
“Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.”
I was reminded of the joke Oklahomans tell on themselves: You know you’re an Okie if your state’s largest airport is named after a guy who died in an airplane crash.
Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport.
Rogers was flying with Wiley Post near Point Barrow, Alaska, when they both died in a crash, August 15, 1935.