Skip to content

Who’s the guy in the background of all those Capitol Hill TV hits?

Undercover Capitol: taking you inside the historic workplace — one video at a time

CQ Roll Call's Jason Dick chats with Rep. Tom Cole about Oklahoma's favorite son, Will Rogers (Jinitzail Hernández/CQ Roll Call).
CQ Roll Call's Jason Dick chats with Rep. Tom Cole about Oklahoma's favorite son, Will Rogers (Jinitzail Hernández/CQ Roll Call).

He was a Cherokee, a cowboy, an actor and a political commentator. He was born in 1879, but he’s in the background of a handful of Capitol Hill TV news hits every day. 

He’s Will Rogers, Oklahoma’s favorite son. And his statue sits between the House floor and Statuary Hall in one of the few Capitol rooms where TV cameras can regularly shoot interviews. CQ Roll Call’s Jason Dick spoke with Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole about the ‘Old Country Boy’ himself, a Native American multimedia icon whose celebrity star still shines on Capitol Hill.

Loading the player...

Recent Stories

Congress weighs proposals to renew key surveillance authority as deadline looms

Recreation bill aims to foster biking, target shooting on public lands

Capitol Lens | Steel curtain

Supreme Court casts doubt on agency enforcement actions without juries

Drama ahead of third Santos expulsion vote

Ousted as speaker, McCarthy has not decided about reelection