Do We Ever Meet a Man We Don’t Like?
By Sally Shattuck
Hi, I'm Sally Shattuck from Ashland, Kansas, and I've been reading Never Met a Man I Didn't Like, The Life and Writings of Will Rogers by Joseph H. Carter. As I've read the book, I keep coming back to comparisons between Will Rogers and today's political humorists, such as Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, and John Stewart. And I've tried to understand the differences between Rogers and today's comedians.
Rogers is famously remembered for saying, “I never met a man I didn't like.” It seems obvious that we don't say that today. Here are some of the ways that I think Rogers differs from modern commentators.
To begin with, Will Rogers was kind.
Of Warren G. Harding, a Republican who presided over a very corrupt administration, Rogers said, “Harding was the most human of any of our late presidents. If he had a weakness, it was in trusting friends. And the man that don't do that, there's something the matter with him. Betrayal by friendship is not a bad memorial to have.”
On the death of William Howard Taft, he wrote, “William Howard Taft always seemed like he was one of us. It's great to be great, but it's greater to be human. We are parting with 300 pounds of solid charity to everybody and love and affection for all his fellow men.”
Secondly, I think Will Rogers was even-handed.
He wrote one time, “You shouldn't elect a president. We should elect a magician. We elect our presidents, be they Republican or Democrat, and then go home and start daring them to make good.”
He was also an equal opportunity observer.
Of Herbert Hoover, he wrote, “Mr. Hoover has done all in his power to try and further peace and at the same time leave us a loaded musket in the corner.”
Of Franklin Roosevelt, he said, “Roosevelt said he would take brains anytime in preference to politics. He just as good as admitted that you couldn't get both in the same body.”
Rogers genuinely liked the politicians that he ripped. Regarding Roosevelt, he wrote, “He's a particular friend of mine, and for many years standing -- he and his whole family, but I have to start making a living out of the fool things that he and those Democrats will do. I'm not worried. I know they will do plenty of them.”
And finally, one difference that I think exists is the difference between Rogers and contemporary comedians is the ability to mock himself.
He one time wrote, “It takes more humor to be a Democrat than a Republican.”
And famously, he wrote, “I'm not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.”
Kindness, even-handedness, and self-deprecation. I wish we had Will Rogers with us today.
This is Sally Shattuck from Ashland, Kansas for High Plains Public Radio, Radio Readers BookBytes.
