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 saw a one woman, one act play about the life of Rankin who had some ties to Watkinsville, Ga.