Jeannette Rankin Takes Seat as the First Woman in the U.S. Congress; Votes Against U.S. Entry in Both World Wars
When Jeannette Rankin took her seat in the House of Representatives on this day, she became the first woman to serve in Congress. A lifelong pacifist and an early suffragist, Jeanette Rankin represented Montana in the House of Representatives twice, the first term from 1917 to 1919, and the second from 1941 to 1943.
She introduced the first bill to grant women citizenship independent of their husbands and is also famous for being the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. entry into both World Wars I and II. She voted against U.S. entry into World War I on April 6, 1917 and World War II on December 8, 1941,
On January 15, 1968, at age 87, Rankin led the Jeannette Rankin Brigade in a march for women’s rights in Washington, DC.
Before being elected to Congress in November 1916, she had been an active suffragist, working in support of granting women the right to vote.
Rankin on April 6, 1917: “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war.”
And on December 8, 1942: “As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.”
Learn more: James J. Lopach and Jean A. Luckowski, Jeannette Rankin: A Political Woman (2005)
See the report on the number of women in Congress, for each session 1917-2014: http://www.senate.gov/CRSReports/crs-publish.cfm?pid=%270E%2C*PLS%3D%22%40%20%20%0A
Learn more about Rankin at the National Women’s History Museum: https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/jeanette-rankin/
Visit the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center here.