In anticipation of the 1928 U.S. presidential campaign, the editors of Life magazine, a humor publication at that time, had an idea: Nominate a presidential candidate who could cut through the political bunk. And so the Anti Bunk Party was formed.
Political observers knew very well that candidates won party nomination, not by the delegates on the convention floor, but by the deal makers in smoke-filled hotel rooms. Anti Bunk Party leaders chose their candidate in the same way -- but without the bother and expense of a convention.
They selected Will Rogers as their candidate...the only man in America deemed capable of making sense of the waves of bunk a presidential campaign brings. Rogers accepted the nomination and Life magazine began publishing Candidate Rogers' political observations & Anti Bunk Party Bulletins.
On election night Life sent a telegram to Rogers informing him that "you were elected President by the Great Silent Vote of this nation.". And for the rest of his life Will was to be the "unofficial" President of the United States.
Prior to this presidential campaign the National Press Club in Washington DC "elected" Will Rogers as Congressman-at-Large. In his acceptance speech Will said, "I certainly have lived, or tried to live my life so that I would never become a Congressman, and I am just as ashamed of the fact I have failed as you are."
While the event was a good-natured spoof, it symbolized America's unspoken consensus about its beloved humorist. What is often overlooked today, or even unknown, is that Rogers was one of the most influential opinion setters of his time. One-third of the country's population read his daily newspaper column. Often it was the first column to attract the reader's attention. "What did Will Rogers say?" was a common expression. People wanted his thoughts before making up their minds.
His favorite target was politics, but his commentary might focus on any current event, which always had an element of truth. He said, "I'd rather have you nudge the person next to you and say, 'He's right about that,' than have you laugh and the next minute forget what it was you laughed about."
Amazingly, Rogers' commentary fits today's events as well as the events of his era. And he still has us nudging each other. Times have changed, but as you'll see in reading his quotes, Will Rogers' insight, playfulness and attention to truth remains.
