On this day in 1880, Jeanette Rankin, (left) the first woman to hold national elected office in the U.S., was born in Missoula, Montana.
A controversial trail blazer, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Montana for the first time in 1916, serving just one term. But 24 years later, Rankin was re-elected, once more for just one term. Both times, her legislative career was ended by her votes opposing America’s entrance into the two World Wars.
A life-long pacifist, it would seem there was little in Rankin’s childhood that would have led to her strong anti-war sentiments. The eldest of six children born to a school teacher and a Canadian immigrant carpenter, she was raised on a Montana ranch. She was deeply affected by the 1890 battle at Wounded Knee as a young girl, however, and her later career as a social worker in Spokane, Washington shaped her political views.
Instrumental in passing legislation that would become the country’s 19th Amendment giving women universal suffrage, she was one of only 56 lawmakers to vote against declaring war on Germany in 1917.
After leaving office she dedicated herself to the pacifist movement, equal rights and social reform during the next two decades. At age 60, she was once again elected the U.S. House.
For a second time, on December 8, 1941, Rankin cast one of the most unpopular votes in Congressional history. (Right, Rankin in 1940) Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she was the lone dissenting “no” for declaring war against Japan. Her party, the press, the public, and in fact her own brother, a former attorney general of Montana, turned against her. The Kansas Emporia Gazette’s famous editor, William Allen White, wrote that while he disagreed with her stance, he admired her courage.
Courage appeared to be the hallmark of western women. As a group they were the first to win the right to hold office and to vote. Louisa Swain (left) was the 
first woman to cast a vote on September 6, 1870 in Laramie, Wyoming. Esther Hobart Morris of South Pass City, Wyoming, was the first woman appointed to a judicial office. She was named a justice of the peace in 1870. Prohibition activist Susanna Ann Salter was the first woman to be elected a mayor in Argonia, Kansas on April 4, 1887 and Nellie Tayloe Ross was the first female governor, elected in Montana in 1924.
A total of 13 states and the Alaska Territory had given women the vote before the 19th Amendment was passed. Of the 13, New York was the only non-western state to do so.
Despite its displeasure with Rankin in 1941, Montana refused to forsake 
Rankin. In 1985 the state donated a bronze statue of Rankin by Terry Mimnaugh, (left) which stands in the Visitor Center of the U.S. Capitol. She is one of nine women in Washington’s Statuary Hall including fellow suffragette Esther Hobart Morris.
Ever the pacifist, Rankin lived long enough to oppose the Viet Nam War. She died on May 18, 1982 in Carmel, California at age 92. Her contribution to the welfare of women has continued, however. The Jeanette Rankin Women’s Scholarship Fund has awarded educational scholarships to more than 700 older, low income women.
An unconventional 2008 movie, “A Single Woman,” starring Patricia Arquette among others, illuminates the life of Jeannette Rankin. This 
film version of the successful stage play, explores Rankin’s life from her childhood in Montana to her final television interview in 1972. While the movie received largely negative reviews and was roundly criticized even by its director, Kamela Lopez, it has been recognized as being politically and historically important. The 97-minute movie is available as a free download at watchdownload.com.
© Text Only – 2017 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain or fair use.