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10 - The Private Man

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2024

Steven Watts
Affiliation:
University of Missouri, Columbia
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Summary

Chapter Ten analyzes Will Rogers the private individual. Looking at the real person behind the celebrity entertainer and writer, it focuses on several personal qualities that defined his adult life. He manifested a great loyalty to his wife, four children, and the idea of family. He maintained his rural roots, sustaining a lifelong attraction to riding and roping, horses and cattle that culminated in his beloved ranch domicile outside Los Angeles. He developed a cadre of close friends from the worlds of entertainment, journalism, and politics. Possessed of abundant nervous energy, he became addicted to travel, both nationally and globally. A man of common tastes in food, clothing, and entertainent, he nonetheless harbored an intense desire to succeed. At the deepest level, Rogers displayed a certain bifurcated quality: essentially reserved, earnest, moody, and sometimes ill-at-ease in private, but tranforming into a witty, charming entertainer and pundit when dealing with a group. Thus the private man balanced an authentic, common man persona with the popular, down-home, humorous image of "Will Rogers" that he crafted throughout his adult life.

Type
Chapter
Information
Citizen Cowboy
Will Rogers and the American People
, pp. 248 - 283
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • The Private Man
  • Steven Watts, University of Missouri, Columbia
  • Book: Citizen Cowboy
  • Online publication: 16 August 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108856393.013
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  • The Private Man
  • Steven Watts, University of Missouri, Columbia
  • Book: Citizen Cowboy
  • Online publication: 16 August 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108856393.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Private Man
  • Steven Watts, University of Missouri, Columbia
  • Book: Citizen Cowboy
  • Online publication: 16 August 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108856393.013
Available formats
×