Why is jeannette rankin important

They own the press. Charges that Republicans were bribing her to withdraw compelled her to undertake what she knew was an impossible task—running in the general election on a third-party ticket. Afterwards, Rankin divided her time between pacifism and social welfare. In , she founded the Georgia Peace Society after purchasing a farm in that state.

Rankin became the leading lobbyist and speaker for the National Council for the Prevention of War from to She also remained active in advocating social welfare programs. It was the looming war crisis in that brought Rankin back to Congress.

She returned to Montana with her eye on the western House district held by first-term Republican Representative Jacob Thorkelson—an outspoken anti-Semite. When the Republican primary results were in, Rankin defeated three candidates, including the incumbent. Rankin went into the race confident that the mining industry no longer carried the hefty political influence she faced earlier.

LaFollette, Jr. She gained appointments to the Committee on Public Lands and the Committee on Insular Affairs, two lower-tier committees that, nevertheless, proved useful to her western constituency.

In this raging debate, Rankin had taken an arms-length attitude towards the leading isolationist group, the America First Committee. Largely made up of opponents to the New Deal policies of Franklin Roosevelt.

Rankin found herself out of sympathy with much of their domestic agenda. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called on Congress to support a declaration of war.

Because the United States had been openly attacked, most Americans supported entering the war. However, Jeannette was still a committed pacifist. This time, Jeannette wanted to speak during the House debates, but the Speaker of the House did not give her a chance. Many colleagues encouraged her to abstain from the process, given her unpopular view.

Jeannette knew that her anti-war stance would likely end her political career, but she refused to sacrifice her integrity.

She reminded critics that she ran on an anti-war platform and fulfilled her promise. Her colleagues and constituents shunned her, and she did little during the rest of her term. By the s, Jeannette had returned to peace activism. She traveled around the world speaking, volunteering, and helping to organize other pacifists.

She believed the world could achieve peace if countries were willing to shrink their militaries and move toward disarmament. The Vietnam War brought new meaning to her work. Jeannette argued that there was little difference between Vietnam and the two world wars she had opposed in Congress.

In her opinion, young soldiers were dying for no good reason. In January , Jeannette led 5, women in a march on Washington, D. They called themselves the Jeannette Rankin Brigade. The New York Times interviewed Jeannette when she was She praised the new wave of feminist activism and discussed the issues that troubled her. She talked about her ongoing peace work, as well as her concern over the lack of diversity in elected officials.

Jeannette Rankin died on May 18, At the time of her death she was considering a third run for Congress in opposition to the Vietnam War. In a professional context it often happens that private or corporate clients corder a publication to be made and presented with the actual content still not being ready. Rankin found her calling in the women's suffrage movement.

While living in Washington State, she became active in the drive to amend that state's constitution to give women the right to vote. The measure passed in , and Rankin later returned home to Montana to win the right to vote for the women of her home state.

The voters of Montana granted women the right to vote in Her years as a social activist and her politically well-connected brother helped Rankin in her run for the U.

House of Representatives. Although it was a very close race, she won the election, becoming the first woman to serve in Congress. This accomplishment is even more miraculous, considering this was a time when many women still did not have the right to vote. In , Rankin proposed the formation of a Committee on Woman Suffrage, of which she was appointed leader. In , she addressed the House Floor after the committee issued a report for a constitutional amendment on the women's right to vote:.

The war resolution measure was passed by Congress to During the war, she fought for the rights of women working in the war effort. Rankin also created women's rights legislation and helped pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the U. The bill, which became law in , sought to improve hygiene education in order to reduce the mortality rate among infants and mothers in the United States. She designed a one-room house, and went without electricity, running water, or telephone service.

As her circle of Georgia acquaintances grew each summer, Rankin eventually organized a study group on antiwar foreign policy. By the group had grown into the Georgia Peace Society. This kept her on the road, speaking at events and testifying before House and Senate committees. Unlike her initial term, when Rankin entered the 77th Congress — she served in the House alongside six other women, including veterans Mary T.

Rankin was assigned to the Public Lands and Insular Affairs Committees which dealt with policies important to her western constituency. Rankin was on the way to a speaking engagement in Detroit on December 7, , when she learned that the Japanese military had attacked the U.

Still others approached her on the floor, trying to convince her to either vote for the war or abstain altogether. As reporters and Members crowded around her on the floor, Rankin huddled in a phonebooth in the Republican cloakroom before police officers escorted her to her office.

For the remainder of the term, Rankin limited herself to issues of wartime fraud and the protection of free speech. She did not run for re-election in After Congress, Rankin divided her time between her ranch in Montana and her cabin in Georgia. She eventually resumed speaking engagements and grew increasingly concerned that America was exploiting underdeveloped countries overseas.

Drawn by the nonviolent protest tactics of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Rankin traveled abroad, including to India. McCormack of Massachusetts.

In the House celebrated her ninetieth birthday with a reception and dinner. Petersburg, FL: BookLocker. See also Office of the Historian, U. I believe that war can be avoided and will be avoided when the people, the men and women in America, as well as in Germany, have the controlling voice in their government.

See Josephson, Jeannette Rankin : 93— On the debate, see Smith, Jeannette Rankin : House of Representatives and the Nineteenth Amendment , May For more on the Nye Investigation, see Wayne S. Cole, Senator Gerald P. La Guardia and Rankin were both first elected to the House in and became close friends. As a result, portions of the House debate went out live over the radio until House officials realized what was happening during the roll call.

As part of a National Public Radio feature, Walter Cronkite reported on this broadcast focusing on the war of wills between Speaker Rayburn and Rankin. View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U. Alonso, Harriet Hyman. Amaro, Charlotte A. Block, Judy Rachel. Illustrated by Terry Kovalcik. New York: C. Board, John C. Thesis, University of Wyoming, Bonner, Helen Louise Ward. Davidson, Sue. Seattle: Seal Press, Giles, Kevin S.

Beaverton, OR: Touchstone Press, Hardaway, Roger D. Harris, Ted Carlton. Thesis, University of Georgia, House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office, Josephson, Hannah Geffen.