Will Rogers' life story is one exciting adventure after another. He roped cattle in Texas, mules in the Argentine stockyards; tried ranching on the Mooi River in Africa; bossed a six-hundred mile drive to Ladysmith where he discovered Texas Jack's Wild West Show and promptly joined it as a bronco buster and hurdle jumper. He then moved on to Wirth's Wild West Show in Australia where his skill with the lariat was an immediate sensation. Back home after his 50,000 mile trek around the world, Will had little to show for his adventures except his amazing rope tricks. He tried to settle down on his father's ranch but the monotonous routine of cow punching was too much for him. He realized that he belonged in show business and he joined Colonel Mulhall's Show.

Will Rogers always gave his audience something of himself and though he poked fun at people in high places, they still liked him. His friend, Rupert Hughes, once said, "He threw a lariat at anyone on a high horse but when he pulled them down, they were laughing." And just as he rode herd on his father's ranch, he rode the range of our political life.

Fame and fortune did not change him, for he always remained a simple cowboy at heart. He has been compared with Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln because like them he had the common touch. Like them he possessed the qualities people most admire—sincerity, tolerance, shrewdness and an all encompassing love for and understanding of people.

From the book