Jeannette Rankin (1880–1973) was the first woman elected to the United States Congress — and the only member of Congress to vote against American entry into both World Wars.

Born on Grant Creek Ranch near Missoula, Montana Territory, Rankin moved from Progressive-era suffrage work — helping Montana women win the vote in 1914 — to her own historic election in 1916. “The first time I voted… in 1916… I voted for myself.” Four days after she was introduced on the floor of the House, she cast her first ballot against U.S. entry into World War I: “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war. I vote no.”

Elected again in 1940, she cast the sole vote against declaring war after Pearl Harbor: “As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.” It ended her political career, but not her activism. She founded the Georgia Peace Society, traveled repeatedly to India to study Gandhi’s methods, and in 1968 — at 88 — led five thousand women through Washington as the Jeannette Rankin Brigade in protest of the Vietnam War. In 1985 her statue was placed in the U.S. Capitol.

Timeline

1. 1880Born June 11 in Missoula, Montana, the eldest of seven children.
2. 1902Graduates from the University of Montana with a degree in Biology.
3. 1908Leaves Montana to study at the New York School of Philanthropy.
4. 1909–1914Works for the suffrage cause in Washington, California, Ohio and Montana; Montana women win the vote in 1914.
5. 1916Becomes the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress.
6. 1917One of 56 members to vote against declaring war on Germany.
7. 1940–41Re-elected on an anti-war platform; casts the only vote against war with Japan.
8. 1946–1971Travels the world, including seven trips to India, drawn to Gandhi’s work.
9. 1968Leads the Jeannette Rankin Peace Parade, 5,000 women strong, in Washington D.C., at 88.
10. 1973Dies May 18 in Carmel, California.
11. 1985Bronze statue placed in the U.S. Capitol.

Flight of the Dove — the play