THE JOURNALIST


Will Rogers began an additional career in 1922 as a syndicated columnist. He would write his weekly "little piece for the papers" until his death in 1935. In 1926 he began writing a daily column "Will Rogers Says". He had a knack for showing the ridiculous side of current events... exaggerating the facts to the amusement of his readers.

Rogers traveled extensively through-out his life, learning firsthand about the people and places he would write about. He thought little of editorial writers who, from the confines of their "ivory towers," could solve the problems of the world. His articles included topics of politics and politicians, big business, government, the wealthy and the poor. In all, he wrote over 2,800 daily articles.

In 1930, Will began yet another phase of his career in Radio. Between his radio addresses and newspaper columns, he reached out to over 40 million Americans a week. This was when the total population of the United States was 120 million. Over 70 years have passed since his reflections on life through the media began, but his words have the "ring" of timeless wisdom and understanding.

"Well, all I know is just what I read in the papers"

Will Rogers' first weekly articles as it appeared in The New York Times, Sunday, December 24, 1922..."The Allied Debt Conference broke up last week in London...It's getting harder every day for Nations to pay each other unless one of them has some money...Why don't somebody lend Germany the money so they can pay France what France owes England, so England can pay us the money to lend to Germany to pay France?...It only needs somebody to start it."

Will's daily telegrams and weekly articles to the New York Times became so popular that they appeared in more than 500 American newspapers everyday. H.L. Mencken once called Will Rogers "the most dangerous man alive" because of the power of his political comments.

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