A Woman of Conviction

In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress as a Republican from Montana. Born in 1880, she became a suffragette and professional lobbyist for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Her efforts helped win Montana women the vote in 1914. The first opportunity for Montana women to vote came when Jeannette ran for Congress. In victory, she said, “I am deeply conscious of the responsibility resting upon me.”

Not only a suffragette, she was a pacifist. She made no secret of how she felt about the war raging in Europe. “If they are going to have war, they ought to take the old men and leave the young to propagate the race.”

Colleagues in the suffrage movement didn’t want her to vote no, fearing she would tarnish their cause. That didn’t sway her. “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war. I vote no.” The National American Woman Suffrage Association announced she hadn’t voted for the suffragists, “she represents Montana.”

After serving one term, she worked for pacifism, social welfare (she had worked for a time as a social worker before Congress), and women’s causes for peace. With another war looming in 1940, she again ran for Congress, saying, “No one will pay any attention to me this time. There is nothing unusual about a woman being elected.”

With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the House and Senate met to deliberate on declaring war. She wanted to speak, but Speaker Sam Rayburn refused to recognize her, calling her out of order for her efforts. Some members asked her to either vote for war or abstain. Her vote of no met with hisses and boos.

“As a woman, I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else,” she declared. Hers was the only vote against war, 388 to 1.

Her brother who financed her campaigns wired, “Montana is 100 percent against you.” Colleagues and reporters ignored her for the rest of her term, and she did not run for re-election.

Would you have had the courage of your convictions to stand firm while everyone else railed against you?

Terri Wangard writes novels that entertain and enlighten. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) has won and been a finalist in various writing contests. When not writing, she’s likely to be reading. Her four novels have all been set in World War II, but her recently published novella, Where My Heart Resides, is a contemporary romance. Learn more at www.terriwangard.com