"Jeannette Rankin had just begun to serve her term as Representative from Montana when the infamous war resolution sponsored by Wilson came crashing into Congress for immediate attention, with the eyes and ears of the world waiting for the verdict. I had been hanging around the Capitol all day on April 5, and had gone home late that night, sick at heart because I was sure the measure was going to pass. About 3 a.m. the vote of the House was taken with 50 members against and 373 for war. I heard about the ordeal next day from those who had seen the session through. As the roll was called, and the reading clerk shouted "Rankin of Montana!", there was no response. Then, louder: "RANKIN OF MONTANA!" Visibly overcome and sobbing in despair, she answered: "I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war.' So Jeannette Rankin, in that nest of dominant males, made herself heard. If the manner was essentially feminine, nevertheless it was truly the voice of the maternal instinct which seeks to protect life rather than destroy it."
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Members of the United States House of RepresentativesWomen activists from the United StatesWomen's rights activistsRepublican Party (United States) politiciansWomen politicians in the United States
Original Language: English
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Sources
Art Young - His Life And Times (1939)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeannette_Rankin
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Jeannette Rankin
Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women's rights advocate, and the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916, and again in 1940.
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