On the wall in my office in Madison is a framed letter, written on congressional stationery some 60 years ago. It's an innocuous transmission from a member of Congress to a constituent; and its value to me lies not in its words, but in the signature at the bottom: Jeannette Rankin, 1st District, Montana, Member of Congress.
To most, Rankin is a mere footnote in history. But to some of us, this woman from Missoula, Mont., is an icon. Born in 1880, the eldest of seven children, student of biology and at one time a seamstress, Rankin earned her place in history 85 years ago this month when she was sworn in as the first woman elected to Congress. She ran, and won, as a Republican in a Democratic state, despite the fact that most women in the nation could not vote. She ran, and won, on a platform calling for national women's suffrage, prohibition, and laws protecting children.
In 1998, I ran as a progressive Democrat in a state dominated by a Republican governor for a dozen years. I won and became the first woman elected to Congress from Wisconsin - more than 80 years after Rankin took her seat. I ran, and won, on a platform calling for universal health care at a time when few politicians, still smarting from the Clinton health care reform debacle, would dare utter the words.
Iowe much to Jeannette Rankin. She paved the way for me and so many other women to take the risk and run for office, to challenge the status quo, to ignore the naysayers and the cynics. To say she helped give women a voice in this country is an understatement. To say she would not be satisfied with the measure of that voice today is undeniable.
Eighty-five years after Rankin was sworn in, women comprise 51 percent of our population, but only 13 percent of the Congress. While women are in the work force in record numbers, we earn, on average, just 73 cents of a man's dollar. A woman's right to control her own body is in jeopardy and our fight for equality is a daily struggle. No, Rankin would definitely not be satisfied!
Jeannette Rankin holds a place of honor in the pantheon of suffragists and crusaders for women's rights. But her notoriety doesn't rest on these issues alone.
Rankin earned both admiration and ire for her devout pacifism. In 1917, just days after taking office, she voted against a resolution to declare war on Germany - one of only 56 members of Congress to do so. Rankin was castigated for acting "just like a woman," while her 55 male colleagues received far less attention.
"I knew it would be a popular war," she later wrote. "I knew I would not be re-elected. I had been told that a 'no' vote might set back the cause of suffrage. But this was not a question of personalities or self-interest in any narrow sense. One does not make a moral decision on the basis of expediency: You do what is right, not because of foreseeable consequences, but because it is right. I voted my conscience."
President Kennedy, who researched many "profiles in courage," would say of Rankin, "Few members of Congress have ever stood more alone while being true to a higher honor and loyalty."
In 1918 Rankin ran for the Senate and lost, and she spent the next 20 years working for peace and women's rights.
In 1940, on the eve of WWII, Jeannette Rankin, undaunted, ran a second time for Congress on an anti-war platform. She won and, in December of 1941, rode into the history books again, this time as the only member of Congress to vote against the declaration of war against Japan.
Regardless of one's reaction to her position, Rankin's demonstration of leadership must be acknowledged and admired. Leadership, I submit, is not defined by who can retain or regain the most power. Leadership is not about conducting an opinion poll to decide what will be the issue of the day. Leadership is standing on principle - standing up for what you believe is right. Leadership, in my view, is a word too often used and a trait too rarely seen.
Rankin's anti-war vote, in effect, ended her life in elective office, but not her political career. She continued to work for social reform and, at the age of 88, led 5,000 women - the Jeannette Rankin Brigade - to Capitol Hill to protest the Vietnam War. Although in failing health, she considered running for a third congressional term.
Feisty and fearless, reformer and role model, Jeannette Rankin merits far more than a footnote in history. That innocuous letter on my wall is a constant reminder of a life of public service formed by conscience and character - a life suitable for framing.
Tammy Baldwin, a Madison Democrat, is a U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 2nd District. This column was originally written for the Progressive Media Project.
Copyright 2002 The Capital Times
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