November 1, 2007 Archive

A Woman of Uncommon Courage
By Laurie Nienhaus
 

The individual woman is required...a thousand times a day to choose either to accept her appointed role and thereby rescue her good disposition out of the wreckage of her self-respect, or else follow an independent line of behavior and rescue her self-respect out of the wreckage of her good disposition.

  The phrase "history repeats itself" was not coined for Jeanette Rankin, but it certainly could have been.  The first woman ever elected to Congress, she had already served one term as Montana's representative in 1917, where she had been one of 55 members of Congress who voted against America's involvement in World War I. 

   So what were the odds that she'd again, in 1941, find herself a member of the House of Representatives with another war at America's door? It was, indeed, the long shot.

   And this time the tale would be even more dramatic. On December 8, 1941 thousands of Americans listened as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress in which he asked for a declaration of war against Japan.

   As the president left the Congressional building amid high emotion, the majority leader John McCormick moved to suspend the rules of debate in order that an intermediate vote be taken. Ms. Rankin, dressed in purple, stood up and stepped into the aisle.  While attempting to speak and with her hand raised in protest, she was cut off by Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn as he slammed his gavel upon the podium, angrily shouting, "I hope there will not be a single dissenting force!"

As John McCormick dramatically cried, "This is the time for action!" Ms. Rankin attempted a point of order (a question as to whether or not the current proceedings were allowed by Congressional procedure) and was still ignored. In what became a dramatic battle of wills, she desperately tried to gain recognition from the floor while Sam Rayburn refused to recognize her and spectators shouted for her to sit down.  It was John McCormick who held the floor, yielding only to recanting isolationists.  The role call for an immediate vote began.

        When the state of Montana was called, Jeanette Rankin cast a "no" vote amid tremendous cries and boos. Senate barons - isolationists and pacifists - all had voted yes.  The president's speech had ended at 12:40 p.m. By 2:13 p.m. America had entered World War II.  Jeanette Rankin was the lone dissenter, her vote the only "no" in all of Congress.

       The Montana GOP National Committeeman was so outraged he insisted Miss Rankin change her vote. She would not, but when days later the House voted on war against Germany, Jeanette Rankin voted "not present" in order to save Montana's honor.  The uproar was intense and it was necessary that Miss Rankin barricade herself in a phone booth to escape an angry crowd before Capitol building security could be summoned to escort her to her office.

       In response to her vote, editor William Allen White of the Emporia Gazette wrote, "...Probably a hundred men in Congress would have liked to do what she did.  Not one of them had the courage to do it.  The Gazette entirely disagrees with the wisdom of her position. But, Lord, it was a brave thing! And its bravery in some way discounted its folly."

       Her "no" vote put an end to her effectiveness in Congress.  Seen as irrelevant, she was ignored by her colleagues.  Her re-election was impossible.

       Some would later go on to describe her as one of the most fearless people in American history while others would say she was paralyzed by principle in the face of enemy attack.

       Jeanette Rankin remained devoted to peace to the end of her life.  In January 1968, at the age of 87, she lead 5,000 women in a Washington demonstration against the Vietnam War.  At a celebration of her 90th birthday, Miss Rankin said that if she had to do it all over again, she would again vote "no" on war.

       After her death in 1972, at the age of 92, the state of Montana commissioned a bronze statue of Jeanette Rankin for the National Statuary Hall in the nation's capital.  At the base of the statue, the following words are inscribed, "I cannot vote for war."
 

     In 1941 radio broadcasts of Congress were not allowed, but due to a historic blunder there is a live broadcast of the dramatic role call from the floor of Congress on December 8, 1941. You can hear Jeanette Rankin attempting to be heard amid the uproar. To listen, click here.

Jeanette Rankin left a portion of her estate to assist mature, unemployed women workers.  The Jeanette Rankin Foundation, chartered in 1976, is devoted to helping low income women aged 35 and over succeed through education.  The organization is one of the very few in the country whose educational awards target this population.
Click here to learn more.

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