Editing Will Rogers (section)

==Politics==
[[File:Seattle Mayor Charles L. Smith with Will Rogers, circa 1935.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Rogers (right) with Seattle Mayor [[Charles L. Smith (Seattle politician)|Charles L. Smith]] about 1935]]

Rogers was a lifelong [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] but has historically been known as apolitical. He was friends with every president starting with [[Theodore Roosevelt]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fa4qwBZEWo |url-status=live|title=Will Rogers and American Politics|date=2020|website=Rogers State University Public TV via Youtube|access-date=March 28, 2022|archive-date=March 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328163545/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fa4qwBZEWo}}</ref> and he notably supported Republican [[Calvin Coolidge]] over [[John W. Davis]] in 1924. During the Republican Convention of 1928, while criticizing the party platform, Rogers welcomed the nomination of [[Kaw people|Kaw]] citizen [[Charles Curtis]] as vice president, although he felt the leadership had deliberately kept him from the presidency: "The Republican Party owed him something, but I didn't think they would be so low down as to pay him ''that'' way." Four years later, when the Republican leadership attempted to remove the more conservative Curtis from the Hoover ticket, Rogers defended him, and took credit for keeping him on the ticket: "I saved my 'Injun' Charley Curtis for vice presidency. The rascals was just ready to stab him when we caught 'em."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-jokes-of-politics-d-to-r-8ce87fe76694 |title=The Jokes of Politics, D to R |date=May 26, 2019 |publisher=medium.com |access-date=November 9, 2021}}</ref>

In 1932, Rogers supported Democrat [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], who was his favorite president and politician. Although he supported Roosevelt's [[New Deal]], he could just as easily joke about it: "Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago."<ref>Paula McSpadden Love, ''The Will Rogers Book'', (1972) p. 20.</ref>

Rogers served as a goodwill ambassador to Mexico, and had a brief stint as [[mayor of Beverly Hills]], a largely ceremonial position that allowed Rogers to joke about do-nothing politicians such as himself. During the depths of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], angered by Washington's inability to feed the people, he embarked on a cross-country fundraising tour for the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Cross]].

=== 1928 presidential campaign ===
Rogers thought all campaigning was "bunk." To prove the point, he mounted a mock campaign in 1928 for the presidency. His only vehicle was ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', which was then a weekly humor magazine. The campaign was in large part an effort to boost circulation for the struggling periodical.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Saavedra|first=Scott |date=August 2020|title=Celebrities for President|journal=RetroFan|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |location=United States|issue=10|page=14}}</ref> Rogers ran as the "bunkless candidate" of the Anti-Bunk Party. His campaign promise was that, if elected, he would resign. Every week, from Memorial Day through Election Day, Rogers caricatured campaign politics. On Election Day he declared victory and resigned (he did not actually receive any state electoral votes).

{{blockquote|Asked what issues would motivate voters? Prohibition: "What's on your hip is bound to be on your mind" (July 26).

Asked if there should be presidential debates? Yes: "Joint debate—in any joint you name" (August 9).

How about appeals to the common man? Easy: "You can't make any commoner appeal than I can" (August 16).

What does the farmer need? Obvious: "He needs a punch in the jaw if he believes that either of the parties cares a damn about him after the election" (August 23).

Can voters be fooled? Darn tootin': "Of all the bunk handed out during a campaign the biggest one of all is to try and compliment the knowledge of the voter" (September 21).

What about a candidate's image? Ballyhoo: "I hope there is some sane people who will appreciate dignity and not showmanship in their choice for the presidency" (October 5).

What of ugly campaign rumors? Don't worry: "The things they whisper aren't as bad as what they say out loud" (October 12).<ref>James E. Combs and Dan Nimmo, ''The Comedy of Democracy'' (1996) pp. 60–61</ref>}}