Jeannette Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973)

The role of Jeannette Rankin in the history of America has been greatly overseen. She became the first woman to hold a high government office in the United States when, in 1916, she was elected to the United States Congress from the state of Montana. After winning her House seat, she said, “I may be the first woman member of Congress but I won’t be the last”.

Politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives and social activist Jeannette Rankin was born on June 11, 1880, near Missoula, Montana. Jeannette Rankin made history as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. One of seven children, she was the daughter of a rancher and a schoolteacher. After earning a degree in biology in 1902, Rankin followed in her mother's footsteps briefly, working as a teacher. Jeanette Rankin tried several more careers, including seamstress and social worker.

Jeannette had a lifelong pacifist; she thought that women should have a bigger role than what other people thought women should have. Women would have strikes and go on marches to prove that they should have rights just like everyone else. She faced discrimination like and other race that faced it. Women would voice their opinion in any way possible so that they could reach their goal and they did.

Rankin’s two terms in Congress coincided with U.S. entry into both World Wars. An ardent pacifist, Rankin voted against the United States entering World War I. The war resolution measure was passed by Congress 374 to 50. 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.S. Congress, granting women the right to vote.

Jeannette Rankin made a return to politics in 1939. Running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, she won the election in part based on her antiwar position. Even the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, could not dissuade Rankin from her pacifist stance and she voted against entering the war. By this time, much of the public's antiwar sentiment had given way to anger and outrage over the attack on U.S. soil. This time, the war resolution passed 388 votes –1. Her no vote was cast amid “a chorus of hisses and boos.”

Rankin was a leader and helped women fight for her rights. She is known as one of the greatest women of the 20th century for her actions as a humanitarian and civic leader. Thanks her, things are a bit easier on the working woman today.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Jeannette_Rankin.aspx

 http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RANKIN,-Jeannette-%28R000055%29/

http://www.biography.com/people/jeannette-rankin-9451806