Credentials of Jeannette Rankin, the First Congresswoman

In 1916 – four years before before the 19th Amendment granted women across the country the right to vote – Jeannette Rankin was elected to Congress as a Representative from Montana.

Rankin was sworn into office on April 2, 1917, having presented this credential as evidence that she had been duly elected by the people of a state. As typical of these credentials, it was signed by the governor of the state, Sam Stewart, and the secretary of state.

On her first day in office, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany, given their recent increase in hostilities. A pacifist, Rankin voted against the declaration of war, along with 49 other members of Congress. Unfortunately, this decision turned away many of her supporters.

In the next election, Rankin decided not to run for the House again, but ran for the Senate instead. After losing the Republican primary, positioned herself as a third-party candidate, but was not elected again to Congress. However, her fight for causes she believed in, including peace, was not over. In 1940, she again ran for a seat in the House of Representatives – and was elected!

On December 8, 1941, Rankin and her fellow Congressmen and women were called upon again by the President to declare war on a foreign power, just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Again, Rankin voted against war, but this time she was alone in doing so. After her term ended, she chose not to run again for re-election, but continued to be a vocal advocate for pacifism, including speaking out against the Vietnam War.

Jeannette Rankin’s credentials, as well as the tally sheet of the vote in the House of Representatives for a declaration of war against Japan, December 8, 1941, were on display in the “Featured Documents” exhibit in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives in Washington, DC, from January 26 through April 3, 2017.

Jeannette Rankin’s election certificate
National Archives, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives

Before being sworn in, newly elected members present “credentials” as evidence that they have been duly elected and are entitled to their congressional seat. Jeannette Rankin’s election certificate, signed by Montana Governor Sam V. Stewart and Secretary of State Adelbert Alderson, certifies that she was elected Representative-at-large for Montana on November 7, 1916.

Tally sheet for House of Representatives vote to declare war against Japan, December 8, 1941
National Archives, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives

Despite immense pressure to vote against her conscience, Jeannette Rankin remained steadfast in her opposition to U.S. participation in both World Wars—a conviction that earned overwhelming criticism and cost her reelection in both terms. Rankin was one of 50 House members to vote against entering World War I, but her decision to cast the only “nay” vote in Congress against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor was especially controversial. 

To learn more about Jeanette Rankin’s life and time in Congress, visit the National Archives Pieces of History blog “Jeannette Rankin: The woman who voted to give women the right to vote.”

Header image:  Group portrait of the sixty-fifth U.S. Congress in front of the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., 1917-1919. (detail) Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-13272.

Past Featured Records

The War Beneath the Waves: Mary Sears and the Navy’s Oceanographic Unit
During World War II, navigating the Pacific Ocean's perilous tides and currents posed a constant challenge to the U.S. Navy. To update their maps and intelligence, the Navy established an Oceanographic Unit in 1943. The team of scientists was led by Mary Sears, a marine biologist commissioned as a lieutenant junior grade in the women’s division of the Naval Reserve, the WAVES.
Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records
After the Civil War, the federal government established a War Department agency to help Americans transition from slavery to freedom. The Freedmen’s Bureau (1865–72) issued rations, operated hospitals and helped establish schools and unite families. It worked to resolve labor disputes and negotiate labor contracts. It also presided over and documented marriages between freed couples.
20th Amendment: A New Inauguration Day
From George Washington’s second term through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first, inauguration day was generally held on March 4. Without cars or computers, the four months between the election and inauguration served a purpose in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It allowed the President-elect time to settle their affairs and journey to the nation’s capital.
Mr. Santa Claus: Romance of the Postal Service
This holiday featured film is one of a series of silent movies produced by the Post Office Department in 1921. The mini melodrama shows how the postal service helps make a happy Christmas for a boy and his sister when their “Dere Sandy Claws” letter is answered by a young married couple.
Bring Them Home, Uncle Sam
Many Americans sought to honor the returning service members with patriotic greetings at the dock, parades to welcome them home, and memorials to honor their service. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919, as Armistice Day, creating an annual day to honor those who brought about the end of the “Great War.” Two decades later, America would find itself embroiled in World War II and then in the Korean War, with many more soldiers deserving of honor. In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower rededicated Armistice Day as Veterans Day to honor all of America’s veterans for their service and sacrifice.