Jeannette Rankin: First Woman in the US Congress and Her Principled Political Stand

Jeannette Rankin, an activist from the state of Montana, was elected to the US House of Representatives on 7 November 1916, becoming the first woman in the country's national legislature. Her life story has drawn fresh attention because writer Loris Rinehart published a biography a year ago, Winning the Earthquake, which gathers what is known about Rankin's activities. Rinehart has described her to US National Public Radio (NPR) as one of the most radical and principled politicians in American history.

The road to Congress

Rankin had been well known in feminist and suffragist circles since the early 20th century. She was 36 when elected. The press response was divided: some publications backed her, while others thought she had no place in a Congress dominated by men.

The new 65th Congress held its first session on 2 April 1917. Immediately after taking the oath, Rankin submitted her first bill, which aimed to guarantee voting rights for all women in the country.

Votes against war

Four days later, Rankin voted against President Woodrow Wilson's call to declare war on Germany and enter the First World War. Another 49 House members and six senators also voted against, but the media singled out and criticised Rankin in particular.

Women's rights

During her time as a congresswoman from 1917 to 1919, Rankin did not achieve her goal. To win the support of southern states she agreed that the vote be granted only to white women, and she was later accused of racism for this. A majority in the House backed the bill, but the Senate held it up. After an unsuccessful run for the Senate, Rankin no longer held elected office. Her proposed law, with minor amendments, passed both chambers, and in August 1920 three quarters of the states ratified it, bringing the 19th Amendment into force. Historians stress that without her contribution its adoption would have been delayed by a decade or more.

The second part of her career

Afterwards Rankin worked in civic organisations, supported trade unions, fought child exploitation and in 1920 became a vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In 1939 she was elected to Congress again. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, she was the only member to vote against declaring war on Japan the next day. The move was extremely unpopular, and her political career ended there.