Credentials of Jeannette Rankin
12/4/1916
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Jeannette Rankin, pacifist and suffragist, was elected to Congress four years before the 19th Amendment gave women nationwide the right to vote. In 1914, her home state of Montana passed a law granting suffrage to women in that state.
Rankin was sworn into office in the 65th Congress on April 2, 1917. When Rankin arrived at the House that day, she presented her credential. This is the document that serves as evidence that a person was duly elected by the people of a state. It is usually signed by the governor and the secretary of state, as hers is.
On her first day, President Woodrow Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Germany. He cited Germany’s resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and Germany’s attempts to recruit Mexico as an ally against the U.S via the Zimmermann Telegram.
A lifelong pacificst, Rankin cast her vote against the declaration of war, as did 49 other members. Her vote against war in 1917 had doomed her reelection bid, and for most of the next 21 years she worked on peace issues. However, she grew frustrated with the ineffectiveness of nongovernmental organizations, and she decided to try again from inside Congress.
In 1940 Rankin was reelected. On December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she again was called upon to vote on war. Again, she voted against war—but this time she was the only person in Congress to do so (making her the only person to vote against entry into both World War I and World War II).
Rankin was sworn into office in the 65th Congress on April 2, 1917. When Rankin arrived at the House that day, she presented her credential. This is the document that serves as evidence that a person was duly elected by the people of a state. It is usually signed by the governor and the secretary of state, as hers is.
On her first day, President Woodrow Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Germany. He cited Germany’s resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and Germany’s attempts to recruit Mexico as an ally against the U.S via the Zimmermann Telegram.
A lifelong pacificst, Rankin cast her vote against the declaration of war, as did 49 other members. Her vote against war in 1917 had doomed her reelection bid, and for most of the next 21 years she worked on peace issues. However, she grew frustrated with the ineffectiveness of nongovernmental organizations, and she decided to try again from inside Congress.
In 1940 Rankin was reelected. On December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she again was called upon to vote on war. Again, she voted against war—but this time she was the only person in Congress to do so (making her the only person to vote against entry into both World War I and World War II).
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Full Citation: Credentials of Jeannette Rankin; 12/4/1916; Election Records from the 65th Congress; Credentials; Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Record Group 233; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/credentials-of-jeannette-rankin, April 27, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.