First woman elected to Congress had longtime Georgia connections

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"Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds To Become the First Woman in Congress" by Lorissa Rinehart

Credit: St. Martin's Press

A major new biography of the first woman elected to Congress is highlighting her commitment to non-violence, women’s rights and democracy.

Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin was elected twice to the U.S. House from the state of Montana.

But she lived for nearly half of her life near Athens, Ga., where the Jeannette Rankin Foundation works to continue her legacy today.

GPB's Orlando Montoya talked with Lorissa Rinehart, author of the book, Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds To Become the First Woman in Congress, about her life and legacy and what she did in our state.

Orlando Montoya: Jeannette Rankin grew up in the pioneering, ranching, homesteading American West. What did her rural Montana upbringing teach her about the progressive issues that she would come to champion?

Lorissa Rinehart: Yeah, so Jeannette grew up in a time when everyone really had to pitch in to even survive. So men had to help take care of the kids, and women had to bring in the harvest. So there was a great deal of gender equality there that you didn't get on the East Coast at the time. And in addition, you had a sense of grassroots democracy, right? Everybody had to work together to make it work. And those were values and ideas that she took throughout her life and her political career.

Orlando Montoya: After college, she became involved in the women's suffrage movement and quickly discovered that she had a gift for organizing and for oratory. This helped her to attract and command diverse crowds. What was it that drew people to her?

Lorissa Rinehart: First of all, I think she was just charismatic. People loved to hear her talk, and she was also exceptionally funny, which is something that not a lot of people know about her. But she also had this really unique capacity to convince people to listen to her, at least, if not sway them to her side. And she spoke to people's interests, and she was often able to convince them that their interests aligned, even if it didn't seem so from the outset. So for instance, she sort of famously was able to talk to men about women's suffrage by saying, "Look, what you want is what women want. You want workers' rights. You want the right to organize. You want government oversight and fair wages and health care. These are things that are important to women, too. So by enfranchising us, you're actually enfranchising yourself as well." And that was a really convincing argument to a lot of people for suffrage.

Orlando Montoya: How did people react to her historic election in 1916?

Lorissa Rinehart: There was mixed reactions, I would say, but overall it was positive. You know, I think there was a dedication and commitment to democracy. And the people of Montana wanted women to have the right to vote, and they wanted Jeanette to be their representative. And regardless of differing opinions, when she arrived in Congress, she received a standing ovation from every single member.

Orlando Montoya: And she came to Congress as America was preparing for the first world war. You noted in your book that anti-war sentiment peaked in the U.S. around this moment. So why did her vote against the war estrange her from her allies and foes alike?

Lorissa Rinehart: Yeah, so really, at the time, the suffrage movement was tacking its sails to war, hoping that by showing women support for war, that it would convince men that they deserved the right to vote, through sort of this logic of patriotism. But Jeannette felt like the war would wipe out the other progressive agenda items that they were working for, including expanded voting rights, health care for women, reproductive rights. And she was right that, you know, as soon as the war was declared, all these other progressive agenda items were really swept off the table. And so while women did get the right to vote, y'know, that was sort of the high watermark and the progressive movement petered out after that very quickly.

Orlando Montoya: Rankin decided not to run in the next election, but turned her skills toward lobbying Congress and the public for peace and international cooperation. Of course, given history, we know how that turned out. Why did she believe a second world war was inevitable?

Lorissa Rinehart: So she saw really the birth of the military industrial complex, in America's entrance to World War I as, you know, the world began to arm. And right after the war there was this beginning of the arms race. And she would often say "If you prepare for war, you get war. If you prepare for peace, you get peace." And so she really wanted to blaze a path, y'know, that could lead to world peace rather than world war. And as the Allied and Axis powers both continued the arms race, she became increasingly convinced that another world war was inevitable, as you say.

Orlando Montoya: Between the first and second world wars, she bought a house in Georgia, first in Bogart, west of Athens, then later she lived in Watkinsville. What drew her to Georgia, and what impact did she make in the Peach State?

Lorissa Rinehart: So she really loved Georgia. She adored Athens in particular. It reminded her very much of her home city of Missoula. Like Athens, Missoula was built around a college. But she also loved to live that rural life that she was able to in Bogart and Watkinsville, as you say. Now she also established the Georgia Peace Society, which was prominent in those interwar years and after. And she did a lot of lobbying for democratic reforms like multi-member congressional districts and ranked-choice voting that continue to be part of our political discourse today.

Orlando Montoya: Of course, we know she wasn't quite finished with politics. She won a second term representing Montana in the U.S. House in 1940, again with anti-war sentiment on her side. But Pearl Harbor changed everything and everyone in Congress, except her. Can you describe her "most lonely vote?"

Lorissa Rinehart: Her most lonely vote was the vote against the declaration of war with Japan. She had really more or less predicted that America would be drawn into the war brewing in Europe. And she had worked for the better part of 20 years to prevent that war. And she voted "no," not thinking it would really change history or change anyone's minds, but just to hang a lantern on a path that could have been had we chosen the path of peace in 1919 rather than a path towards war.

Orlando Montoya: She believed that people never would vote for war. And so a lot of her thinking about war was about democracy. Here's what she told TV host Dick Cavett in 1972:

Jeannette Rankin: And today we're facing an election. And my slogan now is "Governments make war. And the only way we can stop war is to have something to say about our government."

Orlando Montoya: Would some of her ideas about democracy like that be relevant today?

Lorissa Rinehart: Oh, I think they're more relevant than ever, you know. We are at a point where our democracy is in crisis. Left, right or center, I think we can all agree on that. And Jeannette knew as early as 1914 that major electoral reforms were required in order for people's voices to be heard in the halls of power. And, as I said before, she advocated for ranked-choice voting, multiple-member congressional districts, and abolishing the electoral college. And all of these things continue to be discussed and debated today. But they were things Jeannette advocated for the better part of 50 years.

Orlando Montoya: Well, it's a great book. I enjoyed learning about Jeannette Rankin. The book is called Winning the Earthquake, How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress.  Its author is with me, Larissa Reinhart. Thank you for being on GPB.

Lorissa Rinehart: Thank you so much for having me.