Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) broke the glass ceiling to become the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, doing so before women had the right to vote.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today we’re talking about a politician who broke the glass ceiling to become the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, doing so before women in this country even had the right to vote. She fought for suffrage and actively opposed war, sticking to her convictions even when they were extremely unpopular. Let’s talk about the extraordinary Jeannette Rankin.
Jeannette Rankin was born in Missoula, Montana, on June 11, 1880, to John and Olive Rankin. Jeannette was the eldest of their seven children. John Rankin was a craftsman, builder, architect, carpenter, and rancher among other things, and was quite successful, meaning Jeannette grew up in a very comfortable environment. Jeannette would not be the first member of her family to win elective office -- John served as County Commissioner beginning in 1878. Olive Rankin was a teacher.
Jeannette’s family was really important to her. Her siblings would later prove instrumental in her campaigns for Congress. She had a particularly close relationship with her father, whose political perspective helped to shape her own. His affection for her also meant that she was included in conversations on topics that were often reserved for men at that time.
After graduating from high school, Jeannette enrolled in the very first freshman class at the University of Montana. She graduated with a degree in biology.
But Jeannette wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life. She didn’t find her purpose until after her father’s death in 1904, when she went to visit her brother, Wellington, who was a student at Harvard.
Life in Cambridge and Boston was a shock to Jeannette, who had spent her whole life in Montana. She was able to see inequality more clearly there, and it spurred a desire to get into activism.
In 1908, Jeannette moved to San Francisco to work in a settlement house, before starting school at the New York School of Philanthropy, what’s now called the Columbia University School of Social Work.
After earning her degree in social work, she moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1909, and then to Seattle. While Jeannette was working with some of society’s most vulnerable, children, she realized real change required political action. Her eyes started to move towards politics.
A major call to political action came in the form of the women’s suffrage movement. Jeannette’s involvement started somewhat small -- she hung posters all over the city. She was so determined with her poster hanginging that she earned herself an invitation to take a more substantial role in the organized Washington state suffrage movement. Washington state passed women’s suffrage in 1910.
Jeannette then took her advocacy back to her home state of Montana, where she was the first woman to address the Montana state legislature. She gave a rousing speech, arguing that women were unfairly subject to taxation without representation. Still, the measure failed.
Regardless, Jeannette’s efforts were noticed. She officially became part of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1912 as field secretary. In that role, she helped to pass women’s suffrage in North Dakota and participated in the famous parade organized by Alice Paul on the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration.
As momentum continued to build, Jeannette returned to the fight in Montana, which became the first state to pass suffrage through a referendum. Her whole family helped with the cause.
Jeannette’s fight for voting rights was intertwined with her passion for pacifism. As the United States teetered on the edge of joining the First World War, Jeannette believed that women should have a say in voting men off to fight.
In 1916, Jeannette decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. While women could vote in her home state of Montana, women were still barred from the ballot box nationally. Jeannette’s brother was very supportive -- he convinced her to take the leap -- and her sisters also worked on her campaign.
Jeannette ran as a Republican, facing seven opponents in her primary. She used the organizing skills she had learned in the suffrage movement to activate voters on the ground. She spoke against entering any war and she advocated for the importance of investing in children. In reference to the fact that the previous Congress had approved significantly more budget to study hog feed than to study children, Jeannette said, “If the hogs of the nation are ten times more important than the children, it is high time that women should make their influence felt.”
Her tactics worked. On August 29, 1916, Jeannette was nominated as the Republican candidate for one of Montana’s two Representative seats.
Jeannette placed second in the general election, earning her a spot in the subsequent Congress and marking a new era of government in the United States. She said, “I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won’t be the last.”
Jeannette started her time in Congress with a bang. She was sworn in the same day that President Woodrow Wilson called a special session to ask Congress to vote to go to war. When she walked onto the floor, she was greeted with cheers. But her popularity very quickly faded.
Jeannette was pushed to vote in favor of the war by fellow suffragists, friends, and family who believed a vote for war would serve her political career, and a vote against the war would end it. But Jeannette was nothing if not steadfast in her beliefs. When she finally voted, she said, “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war. I vote no.”
In response to her vote, the Helena Independent called Jeannette, “a dagger in the hands of the German propagandists, a dupe of the Kaiser, a member of the Hun army in the United States, and a crying schoolgirl.”
Still, Jeannette continued to make her mark in office, fighting for women’s rights broadly and for those issues most important to her constituents. She advocated for and served on the Committee on Woman Suffrage, continually pushing for a national amendment to assure women the right to vote.
In opening a debate on the subject, she said, “How shall we answer their challenge, gentlemen? How shall we explain to them the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted for war to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country?”
After her first term, Jeannette decided against running for reelection and instead ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. That race made it even clearer, if it wasn’t already abundantly so, that Jeannette was a woman with strong convictions. When rumors spread that the Republican party bribed her to withdraw from the Senate race, Jeannette decided to run as a third party candidate, just to prove the rumors false.
After her loss, Jeannette continued her activism in Montana, in Georgia, where she purchased a farm, nationally and internationally. She lobbied for social welfare programs and against war.
As the world headed for major conflict once again with the buildup to World War II, Jeannette decided to return to politics. In 1940, just before her 60th birthday, she officially launched another Congressional campaign. Upon her victory, she was one of seven women in Congress.
Once again, Jeannette quickly made waves due to her absolute dedication to pacifism. She tried unsuccessfully to force the president to ask for congressional approval to send troops abroad. She then tried to pass a resolution to keep the U.S. military in the Western Hemisphere. That too failed.
Even after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, when the vast majority of Americans were in favor of declaring war, Jeannette determinedly opposed that position. She was the only person in the House who voted against the war resolution. She said, “As a woman, I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.”
After her second term in Congress came to a close, Jeannette, once again, decided not to run for reelection. She spent the rest of her life in Montana and Georgia, advocating for peace for the rest of her days.
On May 18, 1973, Jeannette died. At the time of her death, she had been considering yet another run for the House, this time to protest the Vietnam War.
Jeannette Rankin was a trailblazer who defied norms to forever change the U.S. government. She forged a path for future women in Congress and determinedly stood by her convictions, even when they were incredibly unpopular.
All month, we’re talking about politicians. For more on why we’re doing what we’re doing, check out our newsletter, Womannica Weekly. Follow us on facebook and instagram @encyclopediawomannica and follow me directly on twitter @jennymkaplan.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!