Jeannette Rankin
“I may be the first woman member of Congress but I won’t be the last.”
Suffragist, pacifist, and first woman elected to federal office in 1916
It was no accident that a “Modern Woman” led the effort on the floor of the US House of Representatives on January 10, 1918 for the resolution of the amendment that would grant women the right to vote.
Originally from Missoula, Montana, Jeannette Rankin graduated from the University of Montana in 1902 with a degree in Biology, then to University of Washington in Seattle for an advanced degree in 1910 where she became involved in the women’s suffrage movement. While still at school, Rankin traveled to New York and DC to campaign and lobby for the suffrage movement, and in 1911, was the first woman to speak before the Montana legislature, arguing in her home state in support of women’s suffrage. In 1914 Montana granted women unrestricted voting rights; Rankin would begin campaigning for a Congressional seat in 1914.
From the beginning of her term in 1916 as the first woman to serve in Congress, Rankin used her position as a young, educated Congresswoman to build support for the suffragist movement by giving speeches, interviews, and writing columns for the Hearst newspapers. When elected, she said, “I am deeply conscious of the responsibility resting upon me” as the only woman in the nation with voting power in Congress. When elected, Rankin garnered a great deal of national press and several marriage proposals.
Her first term in office began with President Woodrow Wilson asking Congress to “make the world safe for democracy” by declaring war on Germany. The resolution for war was proposed and Rankin cast her vote against, and although she was one of 50 who voted against war, she faced the worst criticism.
“I wish to stand for my country but i cannot vote for war.” Years later she would say, “I felt the first time the first women had a chance to say no to war, she should say it.”
By 1917, women had voting rights in approximately 40 states, and by 1918, Rankin opened the debate in Congress for women’s universal voting rights, which passed in the House but was defeated in the Senate. The 19th Amendment would pass on June 4, 1919, then go to states for 3/4 states approval in time for ratification on August 26, 1920.
After leaving Congress, Rankin worked as a lobbyist for pacifist groups and lobbied in support of women and children’s causes, including the first social welfare program for children and women, the Shepard-Towner Act, which later dissolved but key provisions are included in the Social Security Act of 1935.
When she ran for Congress again in 1940, Rankin would again be asked to vote on whether the US would enter World War II. This time, Rankin was the only member in House or Senate to vote against war against Japan.
Rankin believed “the peace problem is a woman’s problem” in that the corruption and dysfunction of the US government resulted from lack of women’s participation. She rallied hard her first term, speaking at train stations, meetings, on the street, pushing for women’s voting rights.
Rankin’s role as the only woman in Congress to stand for women the right to vote was symbolic for women across the US—to see a woman participate in the actual vote meant they were finally recognized as US citizens.
“If I am remembered for no other act, I want to be remembered as the only woman who voted to give women the right to vote.”