More than 100 years ago, Montana sent the first woman to Congress, before women had the right to vote. Jeannette Rankin blazed a trail for suffrage and the anti-war movement. Now, a new biography of Rankin's life and legacy is hitting shelves. MTPR's Austin Amestoy visited with author Lorissa Rinehart about her book, "Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress."
Austin Amestoy Thank you so much for joining us today.
Lorissa Rinehart Thank you so much for having me, Austin. I'm so pleased to be here.
Austin Amestoy Yes, I'm very excited to have you and excited to talk about Jeannette Rankin, who, as you already know, is probably on the Mount Rushmore of famous Montanans. But you know, it strikes me that she's not necessarily as famous nationwide. I'm curious, what drew you to her story and why tell it now?
Lorissa Rinehart What drew me to her story was, as you said, it's not as well known as I think it should be. And I wanted to write about her now because we are all reconsidering and rethinking what it means to live in a democracy and to participate in a democracy. And she had this incredible legacy of being a forward thinker and really democratic reformer. And I think that is an important discussion to have right now.
Austin Amestoy You know, Lorissa, in the press release for your book tour, you describe Rankin as one of the most radical and principled politicians in American history. And both of those words caught my eye because they're very hot terms in politics, especially right now. There's a lot of debate over what print being principled actually is and what being a radical actually is. So how was Rankin both of those things from your research?
Lorissa Rinehart I love that. She was radically principled, I'll put it that way. So I think the most radical thing about her was her commitment to expanding the definition of "we the people." You know, I always hit these three points. She was advocating for ranked choice voting, multiple member congressional districts, and abolishing the Electoral College as early as 1914, if not 1912. You know, these are electoral reforms that we still discuss and debate today. And it was her belief that they would allow the people's voice to be better heard in their government. And I think that was sort of her main point of radicality was that she wanted people's voice to be heard and be able to truly choose who their representatives were.
Now, in terms of principled, she did not waver on those or her commitment to pacifism. As everyone knows, or so many people know, she voted against World War One. What few people know, and that my book explores, was that she spent the interwar years from 1919 to 1939 really working on disarmament. And as she saw, right, the lead up to World War II, as she did 20 years before its advent, she wanted to make a difference and make her voice heard. And she ran for Congress again in 1939 and won. And she was the lone dissenting vote for the declaration of war against Japan. And a lot of people think that it was a vote of an ornery old woman who didn't know the way the world worked. But I really go into depth about how she did know how the world worked. But she wanted to hang a lantern on a path that could have been a path of peace.
Austin Amestoy As we speak today, Lorissa, we're approaching the longest government shutdown in history. And I'm wondering what lessons you think today's political leaders could learn from the way Rankin navigated politics and political life.
Lorissa Rinehart Rankin had an incredible ability to reach across the aisle and to reach across many numerous divides. And she was able to do so because she had a foundational commitment to the welfare of the American people. And I think that's something that today's politician on both sides of the aisle could take from her legacy.
I also just want to share a quick anecdote from when the Congress was voting on the Susan B. Anthony Amendment in 1917, which she brought to the floor for the first time. And sort of her arch rival, who was so adamantly against suffrage that Jeannette would stay out of his sight line, actually helped her get the amendment through Congress, because while he voted against it, he wanted to be sure that the people's voices were heard because he was committed to democracy, even if that meant it didn't go his way.
Austin Amestoy I wanted to ask you kind of a fun one to close this out, Lorissa. I know that there are gonna be some probably hobby historians and maybe even pro historians listening into this conversation who who know and love Jeannette Rankin. And I'm wondering what one thing is you think even the most authoritative Rankin fan might not know about her life or work.
Lorissa Rinehart That's a great question. I think they don't know that she's hilarious. She was so funny and always was able to laugh at herself as well. And I think she's often presented as very serious, but I got to know a woman who was very serious and very intelligent, but also just downright hilarious.
Austin Amestoy Lorissa Rinehart is the author of "Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress." She'll be touring the book at the Missoula Public Library on Thursday, November 6th at 5 p.m. Later stops include Great Falls on November 8th and Helena on the 9th. Lorissa, thank you so much for chatting with me today.
Lorissa Rinehart Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
