Posted on 03/01/2008 10:36:44 PM PST by Dawnsblood
We hear much about Hillary Clinton as someone breaking through barriers for women. Here's a test. Who was America's first congresswoman, and which party did she belong to? One brave Republican woman: Jeanette Rankin.
How many feminists know that Montana's groundbreaker, born in 1880, trimmed her own hats, but was still gutsy enough to -- I quote -- tramp "through deep snow potting bears and wolves for pastime"? [i]
How many journalists are aware that Miss Rankin, a seamstress, made her own clothes, cooked excellent meals, and "endured all the hardships of pioneers" with her sisters in Montana's wilderness? [ii]
I especially like the fact that Rankin, the fighter, could verbally bludgeon Democrats, but "enjoyed being heckled by the crowds" because "she always had a good comeback."[iii]
The year was 1916. Not surprisingly, the Fort Wayne Daily News correctly observed that even "after entering politics" Miss Rankin "refused to forsake the old household arts, cooking and needlework." [iv]
In the pre-Clinton years, the Congresswoman didn't see why femininity, couldn't walk hand in hand with a career. But, in addition to being ladylike and genuinely independent, Rankin was also cool before the word "cool" was prostituted by stay-at-home beatniks.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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She also voted, as I recall, against declaring war on Imperial Germany in WWI [arguable], and against declaring war on the Japanese Empire on December 8, 1941 [asinine].
I’d disown the bitch. I’m sure she’s burning in hell for voting against BOTH World Wars.
You beat me to it. Yes, she was a pacifist, and proud to have voted against going to war in both WWI and WWII.
Rankin, a pacifist, was the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan.
She was defeated in the next election, by Mike Mansfield.
From Wikipedia:
She was founding Vice-President of the American Civil Liberties Union and a founding member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
‘Nuff said. She was, however, IMHO right on WW1.
I agree, our interests weren’t at stake there. It probably would’ve ended in a stalemate without us.
A few clarifications. Rankin was one of history’s oddities in that she only happened to serve just two terms, both about a quarter-century apart, and both during the times the votes for the World Wars occurred. She had never served in any other office when she won the open House seat in 1916 (both seats at the time were at-large, so she won along with Democrat incumbent John Evans). Her vote could’ve also been construed as being isolationist, which was an extremely popular position in Montana.
She left the office after a single term in 1919, attempting to win the GOP nomination for Senator. When she failed to win the nomination, she ran as an independent in the general, depriving the Republican candidate, Oscar Lanstrum, a victory (as it was, the Democrat incumbent, Thomas Walsh, held on with just 41% — the same thing had happened the first time he ran in 1912, when 2 Republicans split the vote). To this day, that particular Senate line has NEVER popularly elected a Republican (it’s Max Baucus’s seat) since that 1912 election.
That might’ve been the end of Rankin’s short-lived political career were it not for an equally bizarre political scenario that erupted in the late ‘30s in MT. In 1936, when 30-year old 1st district (Western MT) Democrat incumbent Joseph Monaghan vacated his seat to challenge fellow Democrat incumbent Senator Jim Murray (who had just recently won the remainder of Tom Walsh’s term after his death), the Democrat that succeeded Monaghan was 27-year old Jerry O’Connell, an extreme-left (probably Communist) moonbat. The senior incumbent Senator Burton Wheeler, a renowned isolationist, was absolutely horrified at the presence of O’Connell (and worried O’Connell would likely try to oust him in by the 1940 Dem primary when he would turn 30), and vowed to get the young punk out of office at all costs...
Next came the 1938 election and the backlash against FDR. Because Wheeler couldn’t beat O’Connell through the Democrat primary, he backed the Republican (!), noted 62-year old surgeon Jacob Thorkelson. With Wheeler’s help and Dem crossover voting, Thorkelson deposed O’Connell in the general election. Now, Thorkelson might just have settled into a decent career in DC, but he arrived with a bang (or a dud), and turned out to be one of the most rabid anti-Semites in the House.
The GOP was none too thrilled to be saddled with Thorkelson (who was otherwise Conservative), so guess who reappeared on the scene in 1940 but none other than Rankin. She deposed the controversial Thorkelson in the GOP primary after his single term (he would die just 4 years later) and beat Jerry O’Connell in the general trying for a comeback (believing he’d be facing Thorkelson).
Rankin served her term, voted against WW2 entry and didn’t bother to run again. Mike Mansfield easily picked up the seat when she vacated it (he didn’t defeat her) and it would be not until 1970 that the late Dick Shoup would win the district again for the GOP (he was beaten by Max Baucus in ‘74). Rankin became internationally known for participating in anti-war leftist causes and marched against Vietnam when she was in her 90s (dying just short of 93 in 1973).
Of note, Rankin’s brother, Wellington, one of the most famous trial lawyers in the state at the time, came very close to winning in his races for the House and Senate in MT. In fact, he ran for the Senate just as his sister left the House for the last time in 1942, losing by only 1,200 votes to incumbent Jim Murray. Unlike his sister, he was not a pacifist, and was very disappointed at her votes against entry into both wars, which quite probably cost him what should’ve been a victory. We will never know how angry or resentful he truly was, as he burned his memoirs before his death.
Interesting story! Thanks for sharing.
In the later years of her life, Jeanette Rankin took part in anti-Vietnam War protests.
Not long after Rankin (1920), Oklahoma unexpectedly elected the second woman in history to Congress, an anti-abolitionist named Alice Robertson. She only lasted one term, losing reelection in the Democratic landslide of 1922.
I think you meant anti-feminist, not anti-abolitionist. Ms. Robertson was a good Conservative and was born and grew up on the Creek Reservation. I find her more admirable than Rankin (I have her autograph, too, an extremely hard to find signature). Hers was more a fluke win in the ‘20 landslide over the incumbent Democrat, Bill Hastings (which saw the OK delegation go majority GOP, 5R/3D, for the first and last time for three-quarters of a century until 1994 — it would’ve gone 6R/2D had one Rep., John Harreld, fresh off a special election win when the Dem incumbent died, not decided to take a risk and run for the Senate seat, which paid off for him when adjacent 6th district Congressman Scott Ferris took out legendary incumbent Thomas Gore (distant cousin of Al, but closer relative to moonbat writer Gore Vidal) in the Dem primary and failed to unite the party behind him. Harreld became the first GOP Senator from OK).
Hastings took his seat back in ‘22 and Robertson retired to working at a Veterans Hospital. The Muskogee-based OK-2 would not elect a Republican again to this seat until Dr. Tom Coburn in 1994 (and not again since his departure).
I saw a one woman, one act play about the life of Rankin who had some ties to Watkinsville, Ga.
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