Jeannette Rankin
1880-1973
American pacifist, politician, and social
activist
"I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war. I vote No."
Introduction
Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress — and one of the first women in the world to be elected to a major legislative body — at a time when women could not even vote in most states in the United States. A lifelong pacifist, she voted against U.S. entry into both World War I and World War II, becoming the only member of Congress to do so. She also led a resistance movement against U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Becomes suffragist
Rankin was born near Missoula, Montana, on June 11, 1880, the eldest of seven children. Her father, John Rankin, was a successful rancher and lumber merchant and her mother, Olive Pickering Rankin, was a schoolteacher. After attending public schools in Missoula, she graduated from the University of Montana in 1902 with a degree in biology. She briefly taught in country schools before serving an apprenticeship as a seamstress and supporting herself by taking in sewing. When Rankin's father died in 1904 she assumed responsibility for her five sisters and her brother Wellington, with whom she became particularly close and who later served as her political adviser.
In 1908 Rankin left Montana to study at the New York School of Philanthropy in New York City. After practicing as a social worker in Seattle, Washington, and finding she did not like her new profession, she enrolled at the University of Washington. At that time the women's suffrage movement (the campaign for women's right to vote) was gaining momentum throughout the country, and Rankin joined the state suffrage organization. For five years she actively campaigned for the cause in Washington, California, Ohio, and Montana. Eventually she served as legislative secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and her efforts in Montana resulted in women winning the right to vote in 1914.
Elected to Congress
Having gained experience in social reform, Rankin decided to pursue a political career. In 1916 she ran successfully for a seat in the U.S. Congress on a progressive Republican platform that called for national women's suffrage, child protection laws, and prohibition, among other issues. Upon being elected she achieved several distinctions: although she was a Republican, she was voted into office in a Democratic state; she was the first woman ever to serve in either chamber of Congress; and she won her seat in spite of the fact that most women in the United States could not even vote. When Rankin went to Washington, D.C., her colleagues on Capitol Hill expected the congresswoman from Montana to be riding a horse and toting a six-shooter. Immediately putting such expectations to rest, Rankin revealed herself to be widely traveled, well educated, and highly sophisticated. She was also a pacifist — a fact that would have great significance as she embarked on her political career.
Takes stand against war
Four days after Rankin took her seat in Congress she was caught up in a debate about whether the United States should declare war against Germany. When she ran for Congress there had been little talk of war, although her constituents knew she was a pacifist and the general mood was isolationist, in that most Americans wanted the country to stay out of other countries' affairs. By 1917 the mood had shifted as President Woodrow Wilson ended diplomatic relations with Germany and American merchant ships were sunk by German battleships. Wilson called a special session of Congress in April 6, 1917, and the Senate passed a resolution to go to war. When the issue went before the House of Representatives, Rankin became one of 56 members of Congress who voted against declaring war on Germany.
Conscience damages career
Rankin's brother Wellington had urged her to vote for war, but she replied that sentiment in Montana was against U.S. involvement. She later released a statement in which she explained her position: "I knew that we were asked to vote for a commercial war, that none of the idealistic hopes would be carried out, and I was aware of the falseness of much of the propaganda. It was easy to stand against the pressure of the militarists, but very difficult to go against the friends and dear ones who felt that I was making a needless sacrifice by voting against the war, since my vote would not be a decisive one.... I said I would listen to those who wanted war and would not vote until the last opportunity and if I could see any reason for going to war I would change it." After the second roll call Rankin voted "No." Although 55 male members of the Senate and House had also opposed going to war, Rankin's vote received the most attention. According to some unverified reports, she had acted "just like a woman" and cried as she cast her vote. Amid calls for her resignation, several suffragist groups in New York even canceled her speaking engagements.
In the true spirit of democracy, once war had been declared Rankin promoted Liberty Bonds, which were sold to support the war effort, and she voted for the draft. However, she voted against the Espionage Act, which targeted foreign residents of the United States and suppressed dissent. During the remainder of her term she continued her advocacy of women's rights by introducing the first bill that would have given women citizenship independent from their husbands, and she supported government sponsorship of prenatal and child-care education for women. In 1918 Rankin unsuccessfully sought the Republic nomination for the Senate, then ran as an independent and lost that campaign as well. The following year she joined Jane Addams (see biography) as a delegate to the Second International Congress of Women.
Wins second term
For the next two decades Rankin worked in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist for various groups, including the Women's Peace Union and the National Council for the Prevention of War. During that time she also established a residence in Athens, Georgia, and founded the Georgia Peace Society.
In 1940 Rankin again ran successfully for a House seat, this time on an anti-war platform. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941, she was the only member of Congress to vote against declaration of war against Japan. Once again her stand caused a furor, and this time it put an end to her political career. She did not run for reelection, choosing instead to work for social reform, founding a women's "cooperative homestead" in Georgia. Drawn to the work of Indian pacifist Mohandas Gandhi, she traveled to India seven times beween 1946 and 1971. Rankin returned to the national debate in the 1960s when, alarmed by the hostilities in Indochina, she urged women to organize in protest. On January 15, 1968, she led more than 5,000 women who called themselves the Jeannette Rankin Brigade to Capitol Hill to demonstrate their opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam. She was 88 years old. Rankin considered campaigning for a third congressional term, but her health began to fail. She died on May 18, 1973, in Carmel, New York. In 1985 a bronze statue of Rankin was placed in the U.S. Capitol.
FURTHER READING
Josephson, Hannah, First Lady in Congress: Jeannette
Rankin, 1974.
Ms., March 1986, pp. 86,
88-89.
U.S. News & World Report, May 13, 1985, p.
10.
Source: U·X·L® Biographies, U·X·L, 1996.
Photo credit